Anyone familiar with laser spine surgery?

[ABNAK]

My lower back is farked. Four bulging discs, from L5-S1 on up. The older I get the more frequently it bothers me. It's certainly a hindrance because I have a PT program (cardio 5x per week, weights 4x per week) that I'm pretty religious about. Getting to the point that just about every morning lately it's stiff as hell when I get out of bed but gradually loosens up as the day wears on. I'll be 52 soon but at times I feel like those old bent-over guys! Do NOT want my life to devolve to that.

I've seen adds on TV for laser spine surgery. Supposedly just a Band-Aid and quick recovery. Anyone (especially you physicians out there) familiar with it? Anyone actually have it done? Did it help? I know back surgeries don't exactly have a stellar track record of success but was wondering if this type of surgery yielded better results.

[26 Inf]

My lower back is farked. Four bulging discs, from L5-S1 on up. The older I get the more frequently it bothers me. It's certainly a hindrance because I have a PT program (cardio 5x per week, weights 4x per week) that I'm pretty religious about. Getting to the point that just about every morning lately it's stiff as hell when I get out of bed but gradually loosens up as the day wears on. I'll be 52 soon but at times I feel like those old bent-over guys! Do NOT want my life to devolve to that.

I've seen adds on TV for laser spine surgery. Supposedly just a Band-Aid and quick recovery. Anyone (especially you physicians out there) familiar with it? Anyone actually have it done? Did it help? I know back surgeries don't exactly have a stellar track record of success but was wondering if this type of surgery yielded better results.

Just yesterday I was summoned to my ex-wife's house to visit with one of my ex-sister-in-laws. I hadn't seen her for about a decade, at that time she was just about crippled by lower back pain. Anyhow, I gave her a hug and asked her how her back was doing. She said 'great,' I asked 'surgery?' she replied 'no, pilates.'

Her husband is a nuke engineer who makes his living on power plant reactors, he gets paid a lot, so she'd been to a few docs, none of whom wanted to do the surgery at that time.

[Averageman]

I was warned by my step father that surgery was the absolute last resort and that it could actually leave me with the same or worse issues.
I tried a number of things and acupuncture and chiropractic care eventually solved my problems.
I got absolutely no where with .mil doctors or the VA. I could never see the same Army doc twice in a row and the VA gave me the impression that I was scamming them.
Faced with the prospect of life long pain or immobility, I really would pursue every other avenue before surgery.

[skywalkrNCSU]

I heard some people talking about fixing bulging discs by injecting stem cells into the disc. I am sure that sort of thing wouldn't be covered by insurance and I only heard about it briefly but they made it seem like a miracle cure. Just an idea of something that you could possibly look into.

[ABNAK]

I heard some people talking about fixing bulging discs by injecting stem cells into the disc. I am sure that sort of thing wouldn't be covered by insurance and I only heard about it briefly but they made it seem like a miracle cure. Just an idea of something that you could possibly look into.

My boss had it done to both knees for a total of $8K. We have good insurance but no insurance that I'm aware of covers that.

[JoshNC]

Be very wary of corporate medical/surgical practices that promise results not promised by academic institutions. Go see a spine surgeon at an academic center or a private practice that is truly a center of excellence. Most commonly the latter will be a large group which has an accredited fellowship program (i.e. their surgeons are training the future generations of spine surgeons). I would start at whatever top academic center is in your area. Do some research re: the surgeons. Consult with the surgeon of your choice. Ask the surgeon about laser spine surgery and I'll bet you he/she has nothing good to say about laser spine surgery.

[Hmac]

Ask the surgeon about laser spine surgery and I'll bet you he/she has nothing good to say about laser spine surgery.

I'll bet they laugh. The whole "laser" thing is kind of a standing joke since the very early days of laparoscopic surgery.

[MegademiC]

My lower back is farked. Four bulging discs, from L5-S1 on up. The older I get the more frequently it bothers me. It's certainly a hindrance because I have a PT program (cardio 5x per week, weights 4x per week) that I'm pretty religious about. Getting to the point that just about every morning lately it's stiff as hell when I get out of bed but gradually loosens up as the day wears on. I'll be 52 soon but at times I feel like those old bent-over guys! Do NOT want my life to devolve to that.

I've seen adds on TV for laser spine surgery. Supposedly just a Band-Aid and quick recovery. Anyone (especially you physicians out there) familiar with it? Anyone actually have it done? Did it help? I know back surgeries don't exactly have a stellar track record of success but was wondering if this type of surgery yielded better results.

Do you do back excersizes (therapy) daily?
My dad has 2 slipped disks iirc, and if he misses more than a day, he starts to feel it.
Otherwise, he hasn't had problems in 15 years. I know everyone and each case is probably unique, just something to try before going under the knife.

[ABNAK]

Do you do back excersizes (therapy) daily?
My dad has 2 slipped disks iirc, and if he misses more than a day, he starts to feel it.
Otherwise, he hasn't had problems in 15 years. I know everyone and each case is probably unique, just something to try before going under the knife.

Link to give me an idea of what he's doing?

[Hmac]

"Laser" spine surgery is a marketing hook. It's just minimally invasive spine surgery....removing the bulging disc through a small incision in the back. It's appropriate for about 30% of spine operations, and really has nothing to do with lasers. If all you have is a bulging disc, it might be appropriate for you. If you have any degree of spinal stenosis or any degree of spondylolisthesis, "band-aid" surgery won't be appropriate for you....you'd need a formal laminectomy and probably a fusion.

You need to take recent MRI in to a spine surgeon that does MIS, get his/her opinion. Don't rely on just one opinion, get two or three.