Fortunately, there are sophisticated surgical solutions for severe or chronic neck pain when conservative treatments, like medication, steroid injections, or physical therapy, don’t prove successful.
But how do you determine which procedure is best for you?
Dr. Benjamin Cohen’s years of clinical and surgical experience make him a trusted source of advice for questions like these. He provides critical guidance around what particular procedure is best for you, because he considers a variety of important factors unique to you and your condition before making a recommendation.
When Dr. Cohen performs a spinal fusion, disc replacement, or other procedure, he opts for minimally invasive surgery when possible, since it’s less traumatic to your body and associated with faster healing, reduced pain, scarring, and bleeding, and a reduced likelihood of post-surgical infection.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of thes two procedures.
In cervical disc arthroplasty, also called artificial disc replacement, Dr. Cohen removes your damaged disc or discs (the “shock absorbers” between your vertebrae) and replaces them with a Simplify Cervical Disc, which comes with several benefits:
You can see how the procedure works in more detail by watching our video here.
In a spinal fusion procedure, Dr. Cohen connects two or more of your vertebrae so that movement is no longer possible between them. The result is no more pain and enhanced spinal stability.
During the surgery, Dr. Cohen applies a bone graft to your treatment area and places metal screws, rods, or plates to ensure the bones remain stable as they fuse. The purpose of the graft (originating from a tiny piece of your own hip bone, a bone bank, or a fusion cage of biocompatible material that contains bone growth-stimulating agents) is to prompt the growth of the two vertebrae so that they fuse.
Neck pain can be temporary, or it can become debilitating if one or more of your vertebrae become displaced and compress your nerves.
Dr. Cohen may recommend surgery for you if conservative treatments haven’t helped, you have a herniated disc (when part of the disc’s softer center pushes through its tougher outer shell), or you have cervical stenosis (the narrowing of your spinal canal pinches your spinal nerves or spinal cord, causing pain and numbness).
Cervical disc replacement and cervical spinal fusion surgery offer relief from pain and improve your mobility, but for Dr. Cohen to decide which procedure is best for a patient, he considers:
If you’re healthy and younger (in your 30s or 40s) and haven’t experienced much spinal wear and tear, you may be a good candidate for either spinal fusion or artificial disc replacement. If you’re older or live with osteoarthritis, cervical spinal fusion could be a better option for you.
Spinal fusion might be the answer for you if you’re active and involved in high-contact sports, such as football.
Depending on your health and the conditions you live with, artificial disc replacement may be the better choice if you don’t want any movement limitation or your range of motion to be affected, since spinal fusion affects your ability to rotate your neck exactly as you did before surgery.
If you’ve tried other treatments for your neck pain and need to learn about these surgical options, Dr. Cohen can help. With the right information, you can feel confident about which procedure is best suited to your needs and goals.
Contact our Garden City office at 516-246-5008 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Cohen, or you can reach out to us through our website.
