Sports Injury & Performance Care – Orange County, California

Back Surgery & ART®

Back Surgery & Active Release Techniques®

Dr. Sebastian Gonzales D.C., C.S.C.S., ART , Huntington Beach, California

“I have been told I need a back surgery for a disc injury, is this really necessary and what are the other options?”

Symptoms that require an immediate disc surgery

Symptoms that may require a disc surgery

What does a disc surgery consist of? What is it like?

What if you feel you might not need a discectomy

What is the best treatment for my back pain?

First you have to ask yourself, “Is the disc definitely, without a doubt, the source of my pain?” If you can get confirmation to that question then you can probably feel good about getting a discectomy or microdiscectomy. Indeed, there is a time when a disc surgery is needed, but I would have to say that more often than not, it is unwarranted. Let’s take a look at some concrete reasons to get a disc surgery.

Note: It is important to not to attempt to "self diagnose" your condition… if you have an injury it is wise to seek the advise of a qualified medical professional

Symptoms that require an immediate disc surgery

• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Progressive weakness in your legs (especially in both legs)
• Numbness and tingling into both buttocks area, hips, thighs, or feet

Together these are the symptoms of Cauda Equina Syndrome, which is considered a medical emergency. If you do have these symptoms seek medical attention now.

Symptoms that may require a disc surgery

• A patient does not respond to 4 -6 weeks of non-surgical methods of treatment
• After this period, an MRI or CT is ordered
• With a confirmed visualization of a disc herniation, a discectomy is recommended

These are the guidelines that are commonly used to indicate the medical necessity for a disc surgery. But taking a closer look reveals that the surgery is only really considered when all other forms of conservative, non-surgical treatments have failed. It is really just a last resort and for good reason. Once you have the surgery you can never go back; your body’s structure have been changed.

Here are some of the possible side effects of a discectomy:

· Perminant nerve loss

· Urination problems

· Permanent back, leg, and foot pain

· Permanent Disability

· Possible spinal infections

These are more serious of the side effects.

What does a disc surgery consist of? What is it like?

The most common form of disc surgery is called an Open Discectomy. What happens is the surgeon will make an incision into your back, along your spine, in order to get the spine itself. When he reaches the spine, sometimes he will cut out a section of the bone and ligaments of your spine, in order to get to the disc herniation. This is called a laminectomy. When down to the level of the disc, the portion of it thought to be compression on the spinal nerves is removed.

What if you feel you might not need a discectomy

You are probably right, many people do not need a discecomy even though their medical doctor recommended it; remember it is a last resort. This isn’t your medical doctor’s fault though, they want the best for you and want you be free of your pain, but nothing else has worked and there is nowhere else to go.

You may be saying, “but if nothing else worked for my disc herniation, what else can I do?” Now we are back to the original question, “Is your pain really coming from your disc?” “What came first your pain or the disc herniation?” Let me share a story about a teenager with back pain and a disc herniation.

A 16-year-old boy was playing high school baseball and injured himself during a game one day. The boy visited his medical doctor, who ordered an MRI, with the results showing a disc herniation in his lower back. The doctor then recommended 3 months of physical therapy, which the boy completed and received only limited relief. The doctor then recommended a discectomy, which the boy did not follow through with. He ended up receiving complete relief from an alternative source of healthcare, never to have an incident of back pain for 10 years down the road and still counting. The main point in this true story is, the boy no longer has pain, but he still has the same disc herniation. Also consider, was the herniation a result of the injury or was it there before. Was there another source of pain and the disc was just something that was seen because people were looking for it?

The fact is, the year that MRIs began also stimulated a jump in the amount of discectomies. There reason is there is now something to blame, the disc. The disc is only one of the possible causes pain into the buttocks, leg, and into the foot, but it isn’t the most common.

Numerous things can cause this same type of pain, such as a referred pain from muscular overuse syndromes, a peripheral nerve entrapment within surrounding soft tissues (aka muscles), or poor posture. Many times these three causes are correlated together, but they are the cause of majority of back pain cases.

What is the best treatment for my back pain?

Active Release Techniques® (ART®) is considered a non-surgical treatment for sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, shoulder pain, and knee injuries. It is considered the “Gold Standard” of soft tissue treatments and for this reason it is used by many professional athletes and average Joes alike. The reason why ART® is considered as an alternative to surgery is because it cures many patients who have been told their condition requires surgery, when in fact it never did. If a condition truly requires surgery, ART® is probably not the solution to the problem.

What Active Release Techniques® does is it manually removes scar tissue from within the soft tissue at the site of pain. Scar tissue is a main cause of pain because it alters the physical properties of the soft tissues, forming a knot, and can entrap nerves as they pass the region. This is what happens with the sciatic nerve in many “surgical cases” of pain into the legs. The sciatic nerve is commonly entrapped in the buttock region, the hamstrings, or the calf; this then causes that shooting pain into the lower limb. Many times patients being treated with ART® will see a significant change in their symptoms within 4 treatments, or over the course of about 2 weeks. Results may vary with different cases but regardless; results are usually seen before the 4 – 6 weeks, when doctors would consider you a surgical case.

For more on Active Release Techniques® or to find a provider in your area: www.activerelease.com

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P3 Sports Care, previously Orange County Pain Management, has been serving Southern California for over 5 years.  Although many of our patients live right in the city of Orange, many of them will come from a great distance to receive our Active Release Techniques®, Chiropractic Care, and Injury Rehabilitation. Our customer service is second to none; our patients always come first.

Serving the cities of Orange, Irvine, Villa Park, Mission Viejo, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Anaheim, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Costa Mesa, Stanton, Westminster, Buena Park, Aliso Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest, Seal Beach, Long Beach, Sunset Beach, Fullerton, Brea, Laguna Hills, Tustin, and Huntington Beach.

Check out our other articles and information on Active Release Techniques® to see if it can help you or any of your loved ones get out of pain.