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Effective relief of sciatica by laser spine surgery
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Posted On :
Aug-29-2011
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Article Word Count :
559
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Thousands of people in the world today suffer from spine or pains; conditions that are related to the spine. Spine surgery is the treatment for this condition. It can either be an open procedure or a minimally invasive procedure
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Thousands of people in the world today suffer from spine or pains; conditions that are related to the spine. Spine surgery is the treatment for this condition. It can either be an open procedure or a minimally invasive procedure. Spine treatment has in the past been a painful and a costly operation for several patients. The healing process after the conventional spine surgery normally takes several months; and sometimes years. This usually depends on the intensity of the damage of the spine issues before, during and after the surgery. However, things are becoming less agonizing with innovation and use of laser technology for spine, back and neck pain treatment.
Pain specialists can use diagnostic injections to pinpoint the problem area. One difficulty in diagnosing spine problems is that the spine has many moving parts that are potential pain generators — for example, disks, facet joints, nerve roots, the spinal cord and muscles. By systematically injecting these structures one by one with anesthetic agents, the anatomic source of the pain often can usually be determined.
Sciatica refers to pain coursing down the back of the thigh and into the calf and sometimes the foot as well. It is not always associated with back pain. It eresults from compression or irritation of one of the nerves that make up the sciatic nerve.The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It runs from the spinal cord into the buttock and hip area and then down the back of each thigh and leg where it divides and goes to the foot.The term "sciatica" refers to pain that radiates along the path of this nerve - from your back down your buttock, thigh and leg and frequently into the foot.
The causes of sciatica are many but it most commonly results from either a herniated disk or spinal stenosis. Depending on the cause, the pain of acute sciatica usually goes away on its own in four to eight weeks or so.A thorough diagnostic work-up will reveal the cause.Fortunately, sciatica typically resolves without the need for surgery in about 4-6 weeks. However, if any neurologic deficits develop, such as a foot drop or changes in normal bowel and/or bladder functions, then immediate surgery is usually performed.For acute sciatica without any neurologic deficit, the use of epidural steroid injections can be very beneficial in resolving the discomfort.
For those with sciatic pain due to a herniated disc lasting longer than 6 weeks, surgery has been shown to be superior than non-operative treatment. For those with sciatica or neurogenic claudications lasting longer than 12 weeks, surgery has been shown to be ore effective than non-operative treatment.When surgery is required there are several procedures that may be of benefit. These range from an open laminectomy or laminotomy or even a fusion.
Due to such benefits on laser technology, there are several medical centers which are adopting laser spine treatment as a convenient way of treating persons with spine problems.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Effective relief of sciatica by laser spine surgery_77674.aspx
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Author Resource :
spinal stenosis
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Keywords :
spinal stenosis,
Category :
Health and Fitness
:
Medicine
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