Asklepion / Your problems / Slipped discs
Slipped discs
The well known group of clients with rounded backs, with lower backache and pain radiating to lower legs (sciatica) consist of the slipped discs sufferers. If untreated these pains become chronic and irreversible. Untill recently there were only two types of treatment for the slipped disc, the conservative one and the surgical one. There is a new addition, the third method, the operation with laser, so called nucleotomy.
Traditional methods of treatment consists of analgesia, the application of vitamins of group B, also rehabilitation or the spa therapy. Asklepion has got also great successes with the use of the biostimulation laser.
The radical treatment is surgery where the slipped disc is removed by the invasive procedure under general anaesthetic.
Laser method
The laser nucleotomy, the operation of the slipped disc with the laser, started in Asklepion in 2000. The surgery is suitable for patients with early symptoms who did not reach the stage of the irreversible degenerative changes of the spine. It is expected that this procedure is suitable for the slipped disc of about 15–20 % of patients, where the rehabilitation and analgesia failed. When there would be much earlier referrals by doctors it could be applied in most of the cases.
The specialist introduces a needle from the side to the middle of the disc after injecting local anaesthetic into the superficial muscle area. Subsequently there is injected a small amount of contrast and the pathology is perfectly outlined and visible. This helps the decision whether or not to use laser. If the case is suitable, the specialist introduces the laser filament through the needle into the disc area. The rays generate some warmth which leads to the pressure reduction inside the disc. The disc shrinks and so the pressure on the nerve and tissue around the area is suddenly considerably decreased. The pain stops nearly miraculously, immediately!