Disc replacement surgery is performed in the lower spine to help remove a disc worn out or damaged by injuries or degenerative disease. Surgeons who perform this procedure use artificial discs made of materials like cobalt-chromium alloys, metals, or medical-grade polyethylene to replace the degenerated spinal discs. When you undergo disc surgery, your spinal alignment and functioning improve gradually, enhancing your mobility. Here are a few symptoms that indicate you might need to undergo disc replacement surgery:
1. Conservative Treatments Haven’t Worked
Before undergoing disc surgery, conservative treatments like pain medications, chiropractic care, physical therapy, and injections can help manage degenerative disc disease. The treatments are more effective in the early stages of the disease when spinal discs haven’t sustained severe damage. Disc replacement surgery can help if you still experience persistent chronic pain even after undergoing these non-surgical or conservative treatments.
Persistent chronic pain in individuals with degenerative disc disease results from the inflammation of spinal areas like the disc space, bone spurs, nerves, and facet joints. The new artificial disc implanted during this surgery helps minimize pain by creating more disc space and decompressing spinal nerves.
2. You Experience Neurological Symptoms
When spinal discs are damaged or degenerated, the nerves are pressed due to reduced disc space. This results in a condition known as radiculopathy, where pain radiating from the compressed nerves numbs an individual’s arms and legs. The radiating pain from the pressed nerves may also cause tingling sensations in these limbs.
Numb and tingling sensations can weaken the muscles in the arms and legs when you wait too long to have your degenerated spinal discs replaced. Surgical intervention corrects spinal compression, preventing the weakening of your limb muscles and a decline in your fine motor skills.
3. You Have a Loss of Spinal Stability
Degenerative disc disease or injury on the discs interferes with the normal structure and alignment of the spine, making it unstable. When a spinal disc wears out, it loses its nucleus pulpous, a liquid substance that enhances its cushioning ability. Worn-out discs can’t protect the vertebrae and spinal cord because of their inability to absorb shocks effectively. When a disc loses its nucleus pulpous, its elasticity also declines, causing the spine to become less flexible. Degenerative disease also makes the spine unstable by minimizing the disc height and altering cushioning movements.
- Trauma may also alter normal spinal stability by damaging the disc’s outer layer, the annulus fibrosus.
- This causes the entire disc structure to weaken gradually, making the vertebrae misaligned.
- Misaligned vertebrae cause the spinal muscles to overwork and become fatigued.
- As a result, the fatigued spinal muscles become imbalanced, reducing the spine’s comfort and stability.
- Visit a disc replacement surgeon if you start experiencing abnormal changes in your body posture, mobility problems, or spasms in your back muscles.
Contact a Disc Surgery Specialist
When you visit a disc replacement surgeon, you undergo imaging tests like MRI scans to help check your spine’s posture, disc height, and range of motion. The test results allow the surgeons to identify the damaged spine disc and disc space with compressed nerves. During disc surgery, the surgeons make small incisions, which help speed recovery after the procedure. Schedule an appointment with a professional disc replacement surgeon today if you experience the above symptoms.
