A bulging disc can have a number of different causes, including trauma from a sports-related injury or a car accident. The condition’s most common cause, however, is the natural aging process. Over time, parts of the spine begin to break down after age-related changes make them less able to support body weight and allow the spine to bend and twist. The spinal discs, which are located between adjacent vertebrae and act as shock absorbers, are prone to shrinkage and water loss as you grow older. This can lead to a loss of elasticity, which can cause the outer layer of a disc to bulge out from between the surrounding vertebrae.
Symptoms of a bulging disc
If a misshapen disc causes compression of the spinal cord or a spinal nerve root, you may experience symptoms including pain, numbness, tingling and muscle weakness. The exact location of these symptoms will depend on the position of the affected disc in the spinal column:
- Cervical (upper) spine — nerves send signals to the neck, shoulders, arms and hands
- Thoracic (middle) spine — nerves here affect the middle back, ribs and abdomen
- Lumbar (lumbar) spine — nerves travel to the lower back, hips, buttocks, legs and feet
Treating a bulging disc
In a very high number of cases, symptoms from a bulging disc can be relieved through a course of basic conservative treatments. This may include the use of anti-inflammatory or pain medication, appointments with a physical therapist or healthy life choices such as dieting, performing moderate exercise and quitting smoking, among others. Some patients also pursue alternative therapies like restorative yoga, chiropractic manipulation or acupuncture, but be aware that the effectiveness of alternative medicine is the source of debate in the mainstream medical community.
If you are unable to find relief after several weeks or months of conservative treatment or alternative therapy, you may want to consider minimally invasive spine surgery. These procedures are often the clinically appropriate first choice when compared to traditional open spine procedures, offering a reduced risk of infection and no lengthy recovery for our patients.
Bulging disc keyhole surgery is another way to describe a minimally invasive procedure used to alleviate pain and other symptoms associated with spinal nerve compression. A bulging disc causes symptoms when the outer wall of an intervertebral disc compresses or otherwise makes contact with a spinal nerve root or the spinal cord itself. It is called “keyhole,” because the incision used to access the spine is much smaller than the incisions used to perform traditional open neck or back surgery. In most cases, surgery is only recommended if a regimen of conservative treatment proves ineffective after several weeks or months.
The minimally invasive advantage
A smaller incision is not the only defining quality of bulging disc keyhole surgery. There are many advantages to choosing the minimally invasive surgery performed, if you are a candidate, rather than traditional open neck or back surgery. These advantages include:
- A patient satisfaction score of 96^
- 81 percent of Laser Spine Institute’s patients return to work within three months
- An infection rate (0.49 percent^) significantly less than traditional open back surgery (up to 19 percent)
In addition, minimally invasive spine surgery requires no overnight hospital stay, compared to two to five days for traditional open spine surgery. Also, patients generally recover much faster after minimally invasive surgery and there is minimal scarring.
Contact us to schedule your initial consultation and to receive a review of your MRI or CT scan to help determine if are a candidate for one of our procedures.
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