The vast majority of Americans will experience chronic back pain at some point in their life, and one of the most common underlying causes of chronic back pain is due to an issue with your spinal disc. If you put too much acute stress on a spinal disc or it simply succumbs to repetitive stress and the natural aging process over decades of life, your disc can herniate or degenerate.
When this happens, many patients pursue conservative treatment techniques, and for a fair amount, these treatments provide enough relief that more hands-on care isn’t needed. Unfortunately, some discs don’t respond to conservative treatment, and in these instances an artificial disc replacement may be considered. But what makes someone an ideal candidate for artificial disc replacement surgery? We take a closer look at what we like to see in patients who are hoping to treat their issue with an artificial disc replacement operation.
The Ideal Artificial Disc Replacement Candidate
You don’t need to be the perfect candidate in order to be considered for an artificial disc replacement procedure, but we hope that you check more than a few of the following boxes. Besides having a spinal disc issue that is not responding to conservative care, the ideal candidate for an artificial disc replacement procedure will:
- Have Pinpointed Their Problem – If your spinal symptoms have not responded to conservative care, there’s always the possibility that you’re not targeting the true underlying cause of your pain. The ideal candidate will have their care team confirm that a damaged spinal disc is the true source of their discomfort. Oftentimes this is done with the help of a physical exam, corticosteroid injections and imaging tests.
- Healthy Weight – The more you weigh, the more pressure your spinal discs have to handle with each step you take, as your spinal column plays an essential role in dispersing the weight of your body. Again, being overweight or obese won’t disqualify you from disc replacement surgery, but we would prefer it if you had a healthy weight or were serious about working to shed a few pounds.
- Willing To Work – Playing off the last point, the ideal candidate will also be willing to put in the work when the operation is complete to ensure they make the strongest recovery possible. Surgery provides the technical aspect, but it’s what you do during your rehab that will dictate how strong and functional your spine will become. We want patients who are going to commit to a physical therapy program and adopt some healthy changes to their daily life, like an improved diet and more awareness of healthy posture positioning.
- No Signs Of Significant Osteoporosis – The artificial disc can end up damaging adjacent vertebrae if their density has been significantly affected by bone loss or osteoporosis. We’ll check for signs of major bone density loss, and the ideal candidate will not have significant osteoporosis in their spine.
- Damage Is Contained To A Specific Location – If you are dealing with degenerative disc disease along your entire spinal column, a disc replacement procedure is unlikely to provide you with the relief you seek. The ideal candidate will be experiencing symptoms caused by 1-2 degenerative discs within the spine.
- Otherwise Healthy – Finally, the ideal candidate will be an otherwise healthy individual without other comorbidities that could affect the success of surgery or recovery. Ideally you won’t have common health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnea or heart disease, but these conditions won’t automatically disqualify you from surgery. It just means that extra measures may need to be taken prior to, during or after your operation.
If you’ve been struggling to overcome your spinal disc issue and you believe you may be an ideal candidate for artificial disc replacement, consider reaching out to Dr. Jackman. He has performed countless artificial disc replacement procedures and helped his patients get back to doing all the activities they love without back pain. For more information, give Dr. Jackman and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute a call today at (651) 430-3800.
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