Neck pain anytime is not 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 conditions at
Layden Chiropractic helps many Plainville neck pain sufferers find
neck pain relief.
DDD
Degenerative disc disease (DDD) - the deterioration
of one or more spinal discs – shows itself as low back pain
and neck and arm pain. 40% of people over 40 years old
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 disc degeneration in the
cervical spine will not respond
to non-surgical treatments. (1) Degenerative disc disease is documented
as starting in the second decade of life. (2)
The artificial disc replacement has existed for some time. An early analysis 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% superior to 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 an
11-year-follow-up study, but not definitive in the clinical
trial data. (1) Layden Chiropractic finds that post-surgical neck pain
patients experiencing such adjacent segment disease seek
our Plainville chiropractic care not uncommonly.
ADJACENT SEGMENT DISEASE AFTER CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY
Spine literature has recently published studies regarding
the concern expressed in the prior study 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 arising
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 after a history of having had anterior cervical disectomy and spinal fusion surgery 30 years prior
for DDD. This patient had 34 sessions of chiropractic care – a mix
of cervical manipulation, flexion distraction decompression, soft-tissue mobilization
and therapeutic ultrasound – reported
relief. (3) Layden Chiropractic uses flexion distraction decompression procedures
to gently treat post-surgical Plainville neck pain.
POST-CERVICAL SPINE SURGERY NECK PAIN
Researchers wrote that cervical spine surgeries for
degenerative cervical spine conditions are rising quickly
and leaving in their wake 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 not able to or don’t
want to undergo another surgery. Such patients may then turn to manual therapy for hoped
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 recounted favorable clinical outcomes.
(4) That is hopeful! Layden Chiropractic imparts this hope with our
Plainville 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 allows
relieving, doctor-controlled treatment of your cervical spine.
CONTACT Layden Chiropractic
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 following the Cox® Technic System
of Spinal Pain Management which may include nutritional advice to slow the degenerative disc disease.
Make your Plainville
chiropractic appointment soon. Unwelcomed neck pain due to degenerative disc disease and/or adjacent segment disease
after a cervical spine surgery may well find the hoped for relief
in your chiropractor’s hands.