Treatment Options

There are a number of non-surgical treatment options used to treat back pain. Depending on the type of condition and severity of the pain and impairment, treatments may include: mild pain medications, rest, exercise and traction. These are just a few of the treatments used to treat back pain. In some cases where conservative treatment has failed, spinal surgery may be an effective option to reduce pain, especially from DDD. Spinal fusion is a surgical procedure that is commonly performed to reduce pain from DDD and has a high level of success. Total disc replacement (TDR) is another surgical procedure used to treat back pain, but unlike fusion, it can potentially preserve natural motion.

In spinal fusion surgery, the unhealthy disc is removed and replaced with bone graft material, locking in place the vertebral bones of the spine. After surgery, bone grows through the bone graft material to fuse and create one solid piece of bone. While fusion surgery may alleviate pain caused by DDD, the fusion procedure is designed to eliminate motion at the level of your spine. In addition, if your fusion procedure requires bone to be taken from your hip for the bone graft, there may be pain and increased healing time associated with the incision in your hip. TDR does not require a bone graft.

In both spinal fusion and TDR procedures, unhealthy disc is removed. In the TDR procedure, the surgeon inserts a device called a total disc replacement into the disc space after the unhealthy disc is removed to restore the height of the spine, while potentially allowing for motion at the treated level. It is believed that maintaining motion may allow your spine to remain healthier longer, but this has not been proven.