If you have a physically demanding career, with people depending on you – like health care professionals Samara D. and Karen V. do – you can appreciate just how common and how disabling a back injury can be. You also understand that minimally invasive spine surgery – such as a discectomy – may be an alternative when treatments such as physical therapy have not helped to relieve the pain.
Samara, a physical therapist, was diagnosed with cervical and lumbar bulging discs after being injured in a car accident. Her pain began to progress several weeks after the initial trauma. Her symptoms were so debilitating that she could no longer bend over to help patients with their shoes, or help lift them off an examination table. She tried four months of therapy, three facet injections, an epidural injection and a rhizotomy. But she still had the pain.
Samara was familiar with the long and painful recovery some of her patients had following traditional surgery. So she chose instead to have a minimally invasive spine surgery alternative: a dual procedure on her neck and lower back (cervical discectomy and lumbar DND). She wrote to the North American Spine team: “Before the procedure my pain ranged between 6 – 8 out of 10 daily. Now I don’t have any pain.”
Karen, a critical care nurse, was looking into purchasing a scooter because she could no longer bear the pain of walking. She had back pain for 15 years, and during the eight months prior to her surgery she was forced to quit working, sat in a chair and figured she would be disabled for the rest of her life. So she went across the river to learn more about minimally invasive spine surgery. After her multi-level lumbar discectomy, she woke up pain-free. She says, later that day she was in a restaurant “having a Bloody Mary to celebrate.” She is amazed with her rapid recovery process and reports, “I can’t stop smiling.”
Health care professionals – such as Samara and Karen, ER doc Bruce T., and registered nurse Vickie M. – often benefit from seeing the results of various back pain treatments that their patients undergo. So they can appreciate the positive results and quick recovery time from minimally invasive spine surgery and procedures like the AccuraScope DND.
Visit North American Spine’s patient testimonials to watch and read their stories.
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