Neck pain anytime is not welcome. Neck pain after
neck surgery is particularly unwelcome…by the patient and the
treating physician! Gentle manual treatment of post-surgical neck pain and any
adjacent-to-the-surgical-level-segment spinal pain issues at
Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. helps many Auburn neck pain sufferers find
neck pain relief.
DDD
Degenerative disc disease (DDD) - the wear and tear
of one or more spinal discs – shows itself as low back pain
and neck and arm pain. 40% of people over 40 years old
have degenerative disc disease while 80% of those over 80 years of age
have it. 10% to 20% of people with disc degeneration in the lumbar spine and up to 30% of those with disc degeneration in the
cervical spine will not respond
to non-surgical treatments. (1) Degenerative disc disease is documented
to start as early as in the second decade of life. (2)
The artificial disc replacement has been around for a
while. An early review of its use and efficacy stated
that about 5% of DDD patients were appropriate for it. Further,
the review stated that lumbar artificial disc replacement was
79% better than lumbar spine fusion with a major complication
rate of 0% to 13% per implanted device. The rate of major complications at 2
years post-surgery went from 0% to 8.1% per implant. Adjacent
segment disease was said to be 2% in one
11-year-follow-up study, but not conclusive in the clinical
trial data. (1) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. sees post-surgical neck pain
patients with such adjacent segment disease pursue
our Auburn chiropractic care not uncommonly.
ADJACENT SEGMENT DISEASE AFTER CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY
Spine literature has recently published studies regarding
the concern conveyed in the prior study about
adjacent segment disease, degenerative changes at spinal segments directly
next to a spinal fusion or disc implant area. The cause for such
pain is explained as potentially arising
from altered stresses on the neigboring levels after
such procedures. In an article geared toward primary
care practitioners who care for post-surgical patients with spinal
pain, one such patient who presently had neck pain and cervical
arm pain radiculopathy after a history of having had anterior cervical disectomy and spinal fusion surgery 30 years ago
for DDD. This patient had 34 sessions of chiropractic care – a combination
of cervical manipulation, flexion distraction decompression, soft-tissue mobilization
and therapeutic ultrasound – stated that they had
relief. (3) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. uses flexion distraction decompression procedures
to gently treat post-surgical Auburn neck pain.
POST-CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY NECK PAIN
Researchers wrote that cervical spine surgeries for
degenerative cervical spine conditions are increasing swiftly
and leaving in their wake post-surgical pain syndromes: chronic
pain, adjacent segment disease, recurrent disc herniation, facet join pain,
and/or epidural scarring. Repeat surgeries may be advised
though some patients are unable to or unwilling to undergo another surgery. Such patients may then turn to manual therapy for desired
relief. Due to the fact that the clinical practice guidelines are
written but not very clearly for post-cervical
spine surgery management, researchers analyzed published papers
to determine a path of care.
Of 12 articles, 10 studies on conservative care reported favorable clinical outcomes.
(4) That is hopeful! Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. shares this hope with our
Auburn neck pain patients who have undergone cervical
spine surgery for degenerative disease and other issues causing neck pain. Our
gentle spinal manipulation approach called Cox® Technic provides
relieving, doctor-controlled treatment of your cervical spine.
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Chris Osterlitz on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses
how he helped a patient find relief of his neck
pain after a cervical spine surgery using the Cox® Technic System
of Spinal Pain Management which may include nutritional advice to slow the degenerative disc disease.
Set up your Auburn
chiropractic appointment now. Unwelcomed neck pain due to degenerative disc disease and/or adjacent segment disease
after a cervical spine surgery may well find the hoped for relief
in the hands of your chiropractor.