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What are your
options for treating the pain caused
by a herniated disc?
Most of us experience a natural
and gradual degeneration of discs, that can
in fact be accelerated by excessive stress
on the back and neck, but many of us will
never be aware of it. The
awareness
for the remainder of us is in the form of
severe pain. There are a variety of conservative
treatments that should first be explored
when trying to treat this pain, the final
of which is herniated disc surgery, which
is an open surgery.
The first options will usually be non-surgical
actions such as short periods of bed rest
or medications that can reduce swelling
and
decrease pain.
Physical therapy can also be turned to, as
well as customized exercises or epidural
steroid injection therapy. Patients experiencing
pain should meet with a doctor to discuss
their symptoms in full detail, to pinpoint
the cause, and then explore these non-surgical
options.
If these conservative treatments don’t help, or if something less invasive
than herniated disc surgery is desired, patients should turn to the advanced
laser-assisted treatment called PLDD, or percutaneous laser disc decompression. Read
on for details.
Open herniated disc surgery may involve
the removal of part of the herniated disc,
and possibly a portion of the bone behind
the disc. There are some potential complications
involved, as is the case with any surgical
procedure. These can include bleeding,
infection, tearing of the nerve roots’ protective
lining, or nerve injury. Rupturing may
also occur again and cause further pain.
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