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Spinal Arthritis Surgery

The decision to undergo spinal arthritis surgery may seem like an easy choice when the debilitating symptoms of spinal arthritis are lowering your quality of life. Surgery, however, is a major event, physically, psychologically, and financially. It is important to gather as much information as possible before you decide that spinal arthritis surgery is the right treatment option for you.

Let’s start with what spinal arthritis is and how it affects the body. Spinal arthritis, characterized by a deterioration or swelling of the spinal facet joints, can manifest as either osteoarthritis (the most common form; defined by degradation of spinal cartilage) or spinal rheumatoid arthritis (less common, but more debilitating; defined by the body’s attack on its own joints). Basically, a healthy joint should move fluidly and seamlessly, but as swelling or degeneration destroy the joint, each movement you make is akin to grinding bone against bone. If you are one of the millions of people who live with this condition, this painful feeling of spinal arthritis symptoms is already a reality.

If your doctor has diagnosed you with spinal arthritis and is suggesting that spinal arthritis surgery may be a way to relieve your pain, some common procedures include:

• Laminectomy – removal of lamina (the bony roof of the vertebral arch) and also the removal of bone spurs (osteophytes) that cause nerve compression
• Spinal fusion – joining, through bone graft or hardware, of two or more vertebrae; meant to eliminate mobility and pain, and also used to bolster spine when bone has been removed in procedures like a laminectomy or foraminectomy
• Osteotomy – a type of joint replacement; diseased or damaged joint is partially or fully replaced or resurfaced using artificial substances
• Foraminectomy – a form of spinal arthritis surgery that enlarges neural foramen by removing significant amounts of bone

Click Here to see how you can get your life back in 5 days

Generally, the above options for spinal arthritis surgery are traditional, open-back surgeries that require general anesthesia, hospital stays, and long recovery periods. If you feel that these may not be the right options for you, there are other alternatives. Laser Spine Institute (LSI) offers minimally-invasive, endoscopic procedures that can help you rediscover a life without pain. Contact us today to learn how tens of thousands of people have found relief at LSI from debilitating cases of spinal arthritis, and for a free review of your MRI or CT scan.

Please note: Laser Spine Institute currently does not perform endoscopic procedures on the thoracic spine.