Welcome to our guide dedicated to recovering from herniated disc surgery. We have provided this essay to help patients who are considering surgical herniated disc treatment. The goal of this essay is to educate patients about the best practices that will lead to faster recovery times and better results from any type of spinal surgery geared towards treating a herniated disc.
Undergoing the actual operation is only the very first step in the recuperation process. Statistics show that disc surgery is often fraught with risks and the possibility of suffering post-operative complications. Therefore, being proactive to ensure a positive surgical experience is the responsibility of every disc-pain sufferer who decides that surgery is the right treatment approach for them.
In this patient guide, we provide an overview of the kinds of procedures that are commonly used to treat herniated discs surgically. We also detail the usual variety of complications common to each procedural choice. Finally, we provide a checklist of considerations that should be implemented to increase the likelihood of enjoying positive results from all manner of surgical interventions. If you are one of the many people who have herniated discs surgery each year, then this article is a must-read source of information that can help you to attain the very best outcome possible.
Recovering from Herniated Disc Surgery Tips
Disc surgery is one of the most common of all treatment choices for people whose pain has been linked to an intervertebral abnormality. In fact, herniated disc surgery is the most common form of spinal surgery in existence today. In order to have the best chance of achieving good results from any type of surgical therapy aimed at resolving an intervertebral herniation, certain considerations should be implemented by patients prior to the actual operation:
Patients should be absolutely sure that their diagnosis is accurate. Of course, a herniated disc can be imaged using advanced diagnostic radiology, but just because a herniation exists does not mean that it is the source of pain. Statistics show that virtually all herniations, including those blamed for causing the very worst pain syndromes, are actually innocent and benign. In reality, only a smaller number of disc abnormalities are pathological and actually require surgery. Objective researchers cite the frightening fact that up to 98% of all disc surgeries are not needed, nor even indicated by diagnostic evaluation. Furthermore, the procedures used to treat disc pain surgically are not proven to provide pain relief using any verified study method. This statement includes every possible method of surgical intervention used to this day in the operative arena.
If surgery is the chosen path, despite the above facts, then patients should get in the best shape possible to increase their general health and speed recovery after the operation. This process should include controlling chronic health issues, lowering blood pressure, losing weight, eating better, ceasing to use alcohol, nicotine or illicit drugs and minimizing the need for prescribed pharmaceutical products.
Patients should be completely aware of what they will need to do after the operation to increase their chances of enjoying positive treatment results. This includes attention to physical therapy and activity avoidance procedures aimed at preventing re-herniation of the treated disc tissue.
Recovering from Spinal Disc Surgery Procedures
There are many surgical interventions utilized to treat bulging and ruptured discs surgically. Each different variety of surgical practice demonstrates some unique problems that should be acknowledged and planned for before undergoing the procedure:
Herniated disc laser surgery and other types of minimally invasive care should always be first choices when multiple treatment options are available. The less damage caused to healthy tissues, the better and the faster the recovery process will be.
Disc replacement surgery often involves hardware failure and some particular artificial discs are more susceptible to this problem than others. Always choose the best disc replacement product to minimize the common occurrence of slippage or instability common to this procedural disc treatment selection.
Nucleoplasty and intradiscal electrothermal therapy are some of the least risky techniques, but also suffer from a high rate of disc re-herniation or poor therapy results.
Discectomy and microdiscectomy are the most often utilized techniques for treating intervertebral herniation. Both procedures demonstrate abysmal results for providing cures over a 7 year timeline, with the vast majority of patients needing to undergo repeat surgeries, often followed by spinal fusion, after the original surgical intervention.
Laminectomy seems like procedural overkill for treating most herniations, but can be successfully used when other spinal pathologies exist concurrently and also require surgical resolution.
Spondylodesis is often added to many more significant disc procedures and is the single most complication-fraught spinal surgery in existence. By nature, spinal fusion is dangerous, often involves many follow-up operations and always exponentially worsens the normal spinal aging processes in the treated region of the spine. Minimizing the need for hardware bracing will improve recovery time and slightly increase the odds of achieving a good outcome.
Recovering from Herniated Disc Surgery Guidelines
Patients should always show a preference towards pursuing nonsurgical treatments whenever possible, since disc surgery verifiably demonstrates the worst results of all types of spinal operations. Very few patients achieve true and lasting cures for any diagnosed disc-related pain using surgical interventions. Despite this medical fact, the increasing incidence of disc surgery grows each and every year, clearly showing that patients are not nearly involved enough in their own treatment choices and have not done enough independent research from objective and quality sources.
The fact remains that herniated disc surgery is virtually always optional, never without significant risk, and rarely provides a cure. For patients who decide to accept these negative considerations, it is absolutely critical to at least do whatever is possible to enjoy satisfying results from the surgical undertaking by following the guidelines outlined in this guide. The most important summarized considerations include:
- Verifying the diagnosis with at least 2 doctors prior to surgery
- Exhausting nonsurgical options for effective treatment
- Choosing the least invasive therapy that might result in a cure
- Optimizing good health prior to the operation
- Following aftercare recommendations to the letter
We hate to report such poor statistical outcomes in articles like this one, because we do not want to contribute to the medical pessimism that dominates today’s musculoskeletal pain treatment sector. We want our readers to enjoy good results from every treatment, but simply can not sugarcoat the truth when it comes to the very real risks and statistically poor results of herniated disc surgery.
Our final piece of advice towards enjoying a complication-free recuperation is to limit pharmaceutical pain management products after surgery and rid yourself of the need to use these drugs as soon as humanly possible. The longer you use them, the harder it will be to stop and the more damage will be caused to your organs and your overall wellness. We have seen countless drug-related tragic casualties occur after disc surgery. Please, do not become yet another victim. Good luck recovering from herniated disc surgery. We hope that your results are better than average!
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