It’’s been estimated that over 16 million Americans live with chronic back pain, and that over 65 million people deal with acute back pain at some point in their lives.
Riverside is fortunate enough to have a large team which includes neurosurgeons. This makes it so that they can deal with anything from minimally invasive procedures, to larger more invasive ones, to cancer treatment and even the trauma population.
Decompression is a term used fairly often when it comes to back pain and back problems. In simple terms, in this case decompression means freeing up nerves.
One instance where decompression is used is when a patient suffers from sciatica. There are very few ways to treat sciatica besides physically going in via surgery and relieving some of the pressure on the nerves causing the pain. Relieving the pressure on those nerves is decompression!
Another term frequently used is fusion. Sometimes after a decompression, a fusion is needed to make sure the spine remains stable! Basically, doctors find a way to connect the vertebrae involved to make sure that the back is once again stable.
One really cool thing about the fusion procedure is that eventually, most people’s bodies will grow new bone where the fusion was. The body will basically form a bridge of new bone! How cool is that?
To learn more about Riverside’s amazing technology that has made spinal surgeries more precise and easier to heal from- be sure to watch the video in full.
For more information on Riverside’s Neurological and Spine Institute, visit their website at www.riversideonline.com/spine
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