Neck pain anytime isn’t welcome. Neck pain after
neck surgery is especially 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 conditions at
Spinal Care Clinic helps many Burlington and Hamilton neck pain sufferers get
neck pain relief.
DDD
Degenerative disc disease (DDD) - the wear and tear
of a or multiple spinal discs – shows itself as low back pain
and neck and arm pain. 40% of people over age 40
have degenerative disc disease while 80% of those over age 80
have it. 10% to 20% of people with lumbar
disc degeneration and up to 30% of those with cervical disc degeneration will not get relief from non-surgical treatments. (1) Degenerative disc disease is reported
to start as early as in the second decade of life. (2)
The artificial disc replacement has existed for some time. An early analysis of its use and efficacy stated
that about 5% of DDD patients were eligible for it. Additionally,
the review reported 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 ranged from 0% to 8.1% per implant. Adjacent
segment disease was stated to be 2% in one
11-year-follow-up study, but not definitive in the clinical
trial data. (1) Spinal Care Clinic finds that post-surgical neck pain
patients with such adjacent segment disease seek
our Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic care not uncommonly.
ADJACENT SEGMENT DISEASE AFTER CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY
Spine literature has recently addressed
the concern conveyed in the study above about
adjacent segment disease, degenerative changes at spinal segments directly
next to a spinal fusion or disc implant region. The cause for such
pain is described as potentially resulting
from altered stresses on the adjacent levels after
such procedures. In an article written for an audience of 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 with a history of having had anterior cervical disectomy and spinal fusion surgery 30 years ago
for DDD. This patient underwent 34 sessions of chiropractic care – a combination
of cervical manipulation, flexion distraction decompression, soft-tissue mobilization
and therapeutic ultrasound – reported
relief. (3) Spinal Care Clinic uses flexion distraction decompression procedures
to gently address post-surgical Burlington and Hamilton neck pain.
POST-CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY NECK PAIN
Researchers wrote that cervical spine surgeries for
degenerative cervical spine conditions are increasing quickly
and creating post-surgical pain syndromes: chronic
pain, adjacent segment disease, recurrent disc herniation, facet join pain,
and/or epidural scarring. Repeat surgeries may be recommended
though some patients are unable to or unwilling to undergo another surgery. Such patients may then turn to manual therapy for desired
relief. Because the clinical practice guidelines are
written but not very distinctly for post-cervical
spine surgery management, researchers analyzed published papers
to determine a path of care.
Of 12 articles, 10 studies on conservative care recounted favorable clinical outcomes.
(4) That is hopeful! Spinal Care Clinic shares this hope with our
Burlington and Hamilton neck pain patients who have had cervical
spine surgery for degenerative disease and other issues causing neck pain. Our
gentle spinal manipulation approach called Cox® Technic provides
relieving, doctor-monitored treatment of your cervical spine.
CONTACT Spinal Care Clinic
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 Burlington and Hamilton
chiropractic appointment now. Unwelcomed neck pain as a
result of 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.