Neck pain anytime isn’t welcome. Neck pain after
neck surgery is particularly 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 issues at
Amelia Chiropractic Clinic helps many Fernandina Beach neck pain sufferers get
neck pain relief.
DDD
Degenerative disc disease (DDD) - the wear and tear
of one or more 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 respond
to non-surgical treatments. (1) Degenerative disc disease is reported
as starting in the second decade of life. (2)
The artificial disc replacement has existed for some time. An early review of its use and efficacy indicated
that about 5% of DDD patients were appropriate for it. Further,
the review stated 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 went from 0% to 8.1% per implant. Adjacent
segment disease was stated to be 2% in an
11-year-follow-up study, but not conclusive in the clinical
trial data. (1) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic finds that post-surgical neck pain
patients with such adjacent segment disease pursue
our Fernandina Beach chiropractic care not uncommonly.
ADJACENT SEGMENT DISEASE AFTER CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY
Spine literature has recently addressed
the concern expressed in the prior study about
adjacent segment disease, degenerative changes at spinal segments immediately
next to a spinal fusion or disc implant area. The cause for such
pain is described as potentially resulting
from altered stresses on the adjoining levels after
such procedures. In an article geared toward primary
care practitioners who see 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 prior
for DDD. This patient underwent 34 sessions of chiropractic care – a mix
of cervical manipulation, flexion distraction decompression, soft-tissue mobilization
and therapeutic ultrasound – stated that they had
relief. (3) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic uses flexion distraction decompression procedures
to gently treat post-surgical Fernandina Beach neck pain.
POST-CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY NECK PAIN
Researchers wrote that cervical spine surgeries for
degenerative cervical spine conditions are increasing swiftly
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 advised
though some patients are unable to or don’t
want to undergo another surgery. Such patients may then turn to manual therapy for desired
relief. Due to the fact that the clinical practice guidelines are
written but not very clearly for post-cervical
spine surgery management, researchers analyzed published papers
to determine a path of care.
Of 12 articles, 10 studies on conservative care reported favorable clinical outcomes.
(4) That is hopeful! Amelia Chiropractic Clinic shares this hope with our
Fernandina Beach neck pain patients who have undergone cervical
spine surgery for degenerative disease and other issues causing neck pain. Our
gentle spinal manipulation approach called Cox® Technic allows
relieving, doctor-monitored treatment of your cervical spine.
CONTACT Amelia Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Chris Osterlitz on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes
how he treated a patient who found 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.
Make your Fernandina Beach
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.