Treatment Overview

Surgery is generally conducted under general anesthesia, using a ventilator. The spine is shaved and sometimes secured with screws. Also, because the pain is intense, narcotics are used; however, older patients who may lack physical strength can find rehabilitation delayed while they are in a bedridden state after surgery. For those who have had internal medical conditions (diabetes, emphysema, angina, stroke), there is some danger of infection in the area of the screw, pneumonia, heart attack, stroke, or other complications. Likewise, there is a danger of nerve damage even for healthy people. Even with a relatively simple herniated disc removal operation, paralysis appears in a percentage of patients. Since all treatment at our clinic is performed with local anesthesia just by inserting a needle of 0.8-1.0 mm thickness, patients can be treated safely regardless of whether they are older or have an internal medical condition. Our treatment takes about the same toll on the body as a tooth extraction would. We also use a fluoroscope to make sure the inserted needle does not come into contact with nerves. Our fluoroscope utilizes a device, similar to what is used in cardiac catheterization, that can provide continuous, high-resolution illumination, and thorough consideration is given to safety. In rare cases, the inserted needle touches a nerve, and numbness may temporarily result, but nerve damage on the level of subsequent complications does not occur because the needle is so small. Our director has done approximately 1,500 intervertebral disc treatments, but there has not been a single case of nerve damage.

We do our treatments with a 0.8mm needle, so the scar will for the most part be unnoticeable the next day.

Because surgery is a physical treatment that removes physically deformed bone and tissue, you can expect improvement in leg pain after about 1-3 weeks. After the outpatient treatment for low back pain done here, too, you will gradually continue to improve with time. There are individual differences when it comes to the Discseel® Procedure, but since it is a straight-to-the-root treatment that improves symptoms by repairing damage and regenerating the intervertebral disc that was the cause of spinal disease, it may take a maximum of about 6 months for that intervertebral disc tissue to regenerate.