Herniated Disk and Sciatica - Surgery v Conservative Treatment.
Sunday June 3, 2007
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| Illustration: (c) Anne Asher 2007 |
In the study, standard microdiscectomy was performed.
Sciatica is a symptom of herniated disk. It is characterized by radiating pain down the leg. Surgery for sciatica is usually tried after conservative methods have failed.
Comments
Degenerative Spondylolisthesis is very difficult to treat, and it can be very unstable. The results do not surprise me. However, two years is not a long time. We need to see how they are doing in five or ten years. Sciatica and herniated discs are another story. I know first hand there are nonsurgical methods that have a really good success rate with certain patients. And, for some patients surgery is just not an option at all. In addition, doctors need to consider emotional and nutritional components. They say you could pull 10 people off the street and six of them would show herniated discs. Of those six, maybe one or two have symptoms. We must consider everything.