If you find yourself reaching for pain blockers and other medications to treat recurring back pain, it may be time for you to consider involving a professional spine surgeon to discuss alternative pain relief options.
One such alternative option is the latest breakthrough in minimally invasive spine surgery — ultrasonic spine surgery.
While some conditions will respond to conservative treatment options or physical therapy, other injuries can be resolved only with spine surgery.
Ultrasonic spine surgery can accelerate your recovery and restore your vitality following surgery. Consider the following reasons people are choosing ultrasonic spine surgery over traditional spine surgery methods.
Avoiding spinal fusion
Back pain is the single leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting 31 million people in the United States, according to the American Chiropractic Association. Herniated discs, broken vertebrae, spinal deformities, spinal instability and other spinal conditions can trigger life-altering pain. Often, spinal fusion is thought to be the only course of action, but it isn’t ideal.
“Because spinal fusion surgery immobilizes parts of your spine, it changes the way your spine can move," according to the Mayo Clinic. "This places additional stress and strain on the vertebrae above and below the fused portion, and may increase the rate at which those areas of your spine degenerate."
If you think spinal fusion is your only recourse for treating back pain, think again. The advanced technology of surgical ultrasound gives surgeons tools to treat the most complex cases without destabilizing the spine.
Precision tools
Traditional spine surgery has its place, but the approach uses less precise instruments to carve away bone or tissue, endangering nerves close to the spinal cord.
The Misonix BoneScalpel device used in ultrasonic spine surgery can “preserve up to 66 percent of autograft bone with each cut, when compared to standard techniques,” according to Misonix. This precision instrument sculpts away bone and tissues with minimal impact to the treated area.
Short treatment and recovery
The ultrasonic device involved in ultrasonic spine surgery allows for faster treatment than traditional spine surgery, which means fewer complications, reduced infection rates and quicker recovery times.
Spinal fusion necessitates a two- to three-day hospital stay and several months of recovery time before patients can return to normal activity, according to the Mayo Clinic. In contrast, typical recovery from ultrasonic spine surgery takes only six to eight weeks, according to the spine experts at Sonospine.
“The Sonospine Sonosculpt technique allows our surgeons access to the spinal canal with less disruption of bone, joints, and other tissues," Sonospine reports. "Once at the source of your pain, advanced ultrasonic instruments precisely sculpt away bone and disc to restore your spine's normal anatomy, decompressing nerves and relieving pain."
Low complication rates
Ultrasonic spine surgery doesn't destabilize the back and surrounding tissue more than necessary to decompress the nerve, avoiding spinal fusion. This keeps the complication rates of ultrasonic spine surgery low compared to the rates of traditional methods.
For example, Sonospine's ultrasonic spine surgery complication rate is a mere 1.54 percent, compared to the spinal fusion national average of 10-18 percent.
The ultrasonic spine device “is a safe device in spine surgery with very low complication rate,” according to the National Institutes of Health. Ultrasonic tools can sculpt bones and tissues with millimeter precision, preventing trauma to surrounding areas often caused with traditional methods.
No hospital stays
The advanced, minimally invasive surgical techniques of ultrasonic spine surgery means no hospital stays and no significant risks for complications, with full mobility restoration following surgery. You can decompress painful, pinched nerves in a 90-minute outpatient procedure.
Learn more about ultrasonic spine surgery by calling 888-957-7463 or visiting sonospinesurgery.com, and make an appointment for a complimentary MRI review to learn how you can treat your back pain.
