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Would Surgery Be Recommended For Degenerative Disc Disease?

Posted on Sat, 14 Feb 2015

Question: Would surgery be recommended for degenerative disc disease?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (38 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Degenerative disc disease -mild to moderate

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for choosing healthcaremagic for posting your query

I'm Dr. Sudhir Kumar,

I have gone through your question in detail and understand your concern.

You are having degenerative disc disease with mild to moderate compression mainly at L5-S1 level. Primary treatment is conservative( non operative). Diacerine and glucosamine are helpful in prevention and to some extent repair the degenerative changes. Rest and analgesic such as ibuprofen are helpful in relief of pain. Mecobalmine is help in nerve regeneration and neuralgic pains. Treatment depends upon your symptoms. I can serve you better if you tell me about your symptoms.

You can discuss with your treating Doctor about it.

Hope I have answered your query.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.

In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link: https://www.bit.ly/askdrsudhirortho

Wishing you good health

Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Ashwin Bhandari

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (26 minutes later)

I am taking glucosamine already. My B12 levels are above normal. Is diacerine available in canada ?

I am a nurse and have a desk job that also involves driving to visit patients at home. I am unable to work.

I have been moderating my sitting, standing and walking since the end of september. I have been able to get off narcotics a few weeks ago and will receive an epidural in 2 days.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
You do not require surgery.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Welcome back

I have got through your question and follow up question in detail.

I think you do not need surgery as you have no Neuropathy. You can continue with glucosamine and analgesics. You require pain management and physiotherapy. Diacerine is not available in Canada. You can take epidurals for pain relief. You can discuss with your doctor about it.

Hope your query get answered. If you have any clarification then I will happy to help. If you have no clarification then you can close the query and rate the answer.

Wishing you a good health. Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Ashwin Bhandari

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (8 hours later)

I have intense pain into my hip, thigh and knee. I have difficulty lifting my leg. this is not neuropathic pain?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
To confirm the pain is due to nerve compression you may need to do EMG-NCV

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Welcome back

I have gone through your question and follow up question in detail. You have not mentioned symptoms in earlier query.Pain at hip,thigh and knee can also due arthritis of hip and knee as it is expected in your age.To confirm the pain is due to nerve compression you may need to do EMG-NCV nerve conduction study.In my opinion its treatment is basically non surgical. The decision for surgery should be done after EMG-NCV nerve conduction study. You can discuss with your doctor about it.

Hope your query get answered. If you have any clarification then I will happy to help. If you have no clarification then you can close the query and rate the answer.

Wishing you a good health. Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (32 minutes later)

knee xray states early osteoarthritis. pain is shooting and relieved by gabapentin.

GP is certain that knee thigh and hip pain are related to back issue. He is making a referral to a neurosurgeon but does not know if anything can be done.

Pain is level 8-9 out of 10 without meds.

Pain did not exist until an incident in september where mobility became limited. At that time there was numbness at the inside of my knee which eventually went away after a few months of therapy.

Epidural will not relieve arthritic pain as I understand. Epidural is tomorrow.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (25 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Hope pain will be relieved by epidural.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Welcome back

I have gone through your question and follow up question in detail.The pain seems to be neurogenic as it is relieved by gabapentine. Severity of pain is also significant i.e8/9. Your epidural is tomorrow. Hope pain will be relieved by epidural. If not relieved by it that you can consider for surgery. You can get EMG and nerve conduction before surgery. Epidural does not relieve arthritis pain of hip and knee. You can discuss with your doctor about it.
Hope your query get answered. If you have any clarification then I will happy to help. If you have no clarification then you can close the query and rate the answer.

Wishing you a good health. Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (14 minutes later)

thanks

Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (6 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Welcome..

Detailed Answer:
Welcome... Wishing you good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (4 hours later)

another thought....inversion therapy?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I have no experience with inversion therapy

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Welcome back
I have no experience with inversion therapy.I have never used this therapy. However, some people find traction temporarily helpful for lower back pain caused by spinal disk compression. It leads to increased blood pressure and increased intraocular pressure. One should use it carefully if have high blood pressure, heart disease or glaucoma. It works by stretching the spine (spinal traction) to relieve back pain.

You can discuss with your doctor about it.
Hope your query get answered. If you have any clarification then I will happy to help. If you have no clarification then you can close the query and rate the answer.

Wishing you a good health. Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E