Disc Replacement

What is disc replacement?

Disc replacement involves taking out a damaged or herniated intervertebral disc and substituting an artificial one.

Artificial disc replacement is an option you might need to consider if you have disc problems and no other treatments are helping to relieve your pain. Conditions like degenerative disc disease, herniated discs, and spinal stenosis can all cause pinched nerves that lead to disabling pain.

You might also have other troublesome symptoms like weakness and numbness, or even loss of function. This affects your arms if you have cervical disc disease and your legs if you have lumbar disc disease. Artificial disc replacement can resolve these symptoms and relieve your pain, allowing you to get on with your life.

The Apex Spine and Neurosurgery team performs artificial disc replacement on both cervical and lumbar discs.

Is disc replacement surgery the best option?

Disc replacement might be a good option for you, but only when other less invasive treatments fail to relieve your symptoms. For most people, conservative treatments are effective in reducing pain from disc disease.

Pain medications, physical therapy, and therapeutic massage, for example, might be all you need to recover from neck or back pain. There are also more advanced interventions, such as steroid injections, that could help if noninvasive therapies aren't working.

Only if your condition fails to improve would the Apex Spine and Neurosurgery team propose surgery as an option. As an alternative to artificial disc replacement, the team offers cervical fusion for disc problems, which might be suitable even if disc replacement isn't the right choice for you.

What happens when I have disc replacement surgery?

To perform disc replacement surgery, your surgeon at Apex Spine and Neurosurgery makes an incision in your neck at the front. Using imaging guidance, they locate the disc that needs to be removed and extract it.

The artificial disc fits into the gap between the vertebrae, where your surgeon positions it in exactly the right place before suturing the incision.

Artificial discs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and closely mimic the function of natural discs. This motion preservation is a key advantage of having artificial disc replacement as opposed to fusion surgery.

To find out more or arrange a consultation, call Apex Spine and Neurosurgery today, or book an appointment online.