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Month: October 2013

Carl Spivak, MD - Executive Spine SurgeryNews2013October
By Staff Writer Discectomy, endoscopic spine surgery, laser surgery, Lower back pain, Nerve damage, Pain, Sciatica, Surgery

6 Signs of Herniated Disk or Slipped Disk

 

  1. Leg pain – this may be pain radiating down the back or the side of the leg to the knee or foot.   Sometimes this pain is felt in the front or inner thigh or even the groin.  The pain may worsen with straightening the leg or siting up.   Arthritis pain is different from slipped disk.  arthritis pain  is usually only found in the hip, knees or ankle and does not radiate down the whole leg.
  2. Numbness and tingling – this may be felt as pins and needles, burning or decreased or absent feeling in the area of the pain or beyond it.  Sometimes numbness may appear without pain.
  3. Weakness – the leg may give out or drag.  You may have problems getting up from sitting, stepping onto a stool or moving your foot.
  4. Reflex loss – patients may loose reflexes at their knee or ankle or from the bottom of their foot.  Usually this is picked up from your doctor.
  5. Walking – the leg may drag or catch on the floor, you may have to lift the leg high to avoid this
  6. Bowel and bladder – if the disk compresses the cauda equina (the nerves to the bowel and bladder)  the bowel and bladder may stop working.  You may retention of pee or bowel movements or become incontinent of them.  If this happens you should seek medical attention immediately.

About Dr. Carl Spivak

Dr. Spivak is the president of Executive Spine Surgery and has offices in New York and New Jersey.  He is well known for his cutting-edge, minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgeries and regularly teaches courses throughout the USA.  For more information please call 908-452-5612 or click on schedule-an-appointment.

By Staff Writer Discectomy, endoscopic spine surgery, laser surgery, Lower back pain, Pain, Sciatica, Spinal fusion, Stem cell, Surgery, Treatment Options for Back Pain

6 Best Treatments for Back Pain

1. Physical therapy focusing on core strength and flexibility.

2. Weight loss.  Weight loss alleviates back pain by reducing stress and strain on your back and decreases damage to disks and joints.

3. Steroid injections may relieve back pain.  Steroids and local anesthetics work to decrease inflammation, washout chemicals that cause pain and directly reduce pain often breaking the destructive pain cycle.  Steroid injections are an effective treatment for conditions that cause back pain such as arthritis of the spine (called facet arthropathy) and disk disease.

4. Stem Cell Therapy.  Disk regeneration is a new therapy where stem cells taken from your hip are injected  into your damaged disk to regenerate the disk.  The stem cells make new disk cells increasing the fluid and size of the disk reducing back pain and suffering.

5. Endoscopic Laser Discectomy.  As the disk wears out, or degenerates, it turns black on MRI, collapses, bulges and may tear causing back pain.  Removal of the degenerated disk and treatment of the annular tear has been found to reduce back pain and suffering.   The discectomy and annuloplasty can be done with the spinal endoscope.  A scope the size of a pencil can be placed through an incision the size of your finger nail.  The disk is found and repaired under direct visualization.

6. Endoscopic Fusion. Painful degenerated disks, spinal instability, spondylolithesis may lead to severe back and/or leg pain.  This pain can be disabling.  Patients that have failed other treatments may be a candidate for fusion surgery.  Today fusion surgery can be done through a very small incision with the aid of an spinal endoscopic to reduce soft tissue and bone damage and quicken recovery.

ABOUT US:

Dr. Spivak is the President of Executive Spine Surgery and is a leader in Endoscopic Laser Spine Surgery.  He see patients in New York and New Jersey and teaches doctors his advanced surgical techniques throughout the United States.  For more information please call 908-452-5612 or click schedule-an-appointment.

By Staff Writer Discectomy, endoscopic spine surgery, laser surgery, Lower back pain, Nerve damage, Pain, Sciatica, Surgery, Treatment Options for Back Pain, Treatment problems

Can spinal epidural steroid injection hurt my brain?

Spinal epidural injections are very common treatments for back pain and sciatica.  Sciatica is leg pain running down the back of your leg caused by a slipped disk pinching a nerve.  Imagine the disk is a marshmallow (even though it really isn’t).  The disk like a marshmallow may expand out if you squeeze it.

HOMEWORK:

You can try this at home – take a marshmallow and squeeze it from the top and bottom.  See how the marshmallow expands out as you flatten it.  This is similar to a herniated disk .  The bulging disk may pinch a nerve causing the nerve to swell up and get “hot” called inflammation causing back and leg pain.

Spinal epidural steroid injections are the placement of steroid medicine into the spine onto the hot and swollen nerve to cool down the inflammation and relieve the pain and suffering.  Think of it like putting an aspirin on the nerve.

Even though spinal injections are generally safe there are risks and side effects to all medical procedures. These include bleeding, infection, dural puncture or “wet tap” causing headaches and nerve damage.  Patients may also experience increased pain, headaches, red face, anxiety, problems sleeping, fever, high blood sugar, decreased immunity, stomach ulcers, severe arthritis, cataracts and menstrual irregularities.

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION the most common way spinal epidural steroid injections affect your brain is through headaches.  Usually these headaches will resolve with time.  If they are related to “wet tap” you may require bed rest, caffeine, fluids and rarely blood patch.  Blood patch is the injection of blood into the spine to stop spinal fluid leak and “plug” the hole from the “wet tap”.

ABOUT DR CARL SPIVAK

Dr. Spivak is a neurosurgeon fellowship trained in minimally invasive spine surgery and spinal epidural steroid injections.  He has practices in New York and New Jersey.  For more information on spinal epidural injections or laser endoscopic spine surgery please call Executive Spine Surgery at 908-452-5612 or click schedule-an-appointment.

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