Discectomy Drawbacks

Discopathy is one of the most common problems that happen to the human body, it’s due to imbalanced pressure over the intervertebral discs. The most common level is L4-L5, which is at the lumbar region. Degeneration and dehydration of the discs make the discs go irregular in shape, and the pressure over them will be asymmetrical, and imbalanced, and it will be pushed back into the spinal canal, and make cord irritation, or canal stenosis. Discectomy, is the most common operation for this condition, but with this procedure, the joint cartilage between the upper and lower vertebrae to the affected disc, should be removed to make a fusion, but the pressure of the fused vertebrae, will be added to the upper vertebra, and soon its disc will be over-pressured, and overused, and the problem will start again. I prefer not to do surgery as the first solution. There are just two absolute indications for surgery: Uncontrollable increasing pain, and progressive neurologic deficit, otherwise, it is better to use conservative treatments, like Osteopathy, until it is not effective anymore. I used osteopathy for many of my patients, who were candidates for surgery by other surgeons, but after one or two sessions, they got much better, so they postponed their surgery, and they are still doing good. Osteopathy is the best initial treatment for back and low back pain.