Cervical Spine Surgery

Cervical Spine Surgery Types and Their Complications

Surgery can be a really scary prospect.  If you need to go through a surgical procedure, just the thought that your health warrants such an event is scary in itself.  Then, you think of what may happen during the procedure, and your fear rises even more.  Sometimes, no matter how afraid you are, it is just better to go through with the surgery.  If you neck is badly out of shape, causing you a lot of severe, chronic pain, then you may need to consider going through with cervical spine surgery.

Cervical spinal surgery is necessary when you have bad neck problems.

The cervical spine is the vertebrae that make up your neck. When you have problems with this area of your body, it can definitely affect the quality of your life.  Neck pain can lead to severe headaches that interfere with your everyday life.  When it gets really bad, you may not even be able to do your work or spend time with your family like you would like to.

There are many reasons why cervical spine surgery may be the right choice.  You may have spinal stenosis, degenerative disease or disorder, or a cervical deformity.  Or, you may have gotten into an accident that caused a bad neck injury.  Any of these reasons can warrant going through with the surgery, although it is really up to your doctor.  If you are unsure whether or not you qualify, make a doctor’s appointment.  With the help of specialists, they should be able to determine if the procedure is right for you.  Although cervical surgery can be very helpful, there are actually several different kinds of these surgeries.  By choosing the right one, you can not only lessen your fear, but lessen the chance of cervical spine surgery complications as well.

The traditional form of cervical spine surgery is fairly invasive. They open up your neck and remove a disc or part of a bone.  They then fuse two of your vertebrae together using a bone graft.  Not only is this procedure painful, but it has a lot of possible complications as well.  for instance, you may incur a spinal cord injury, which can have a lot of drastic  and terrible side effects.  The surgery may also damage areas of your body such as your esophagus, nerves, vocal cords, and carotid artery.  These are only some of the cervical spine surgery complications that can occur.

If you are afraid of these complications, you have other options.  There are less invasive ways to go through with cervical spine surgery.  These usually don’t fix the problem as well as the more invasive surgery, but it will be much easier to recover from it.  It is up to your doctor on whether or not you qualify for the less invasive surgery.  Some people’s symptoms and causes for their neck pain are too severe in order to warrant this easier surgery.  Because of this, make sure that you let your doctor know your wishes so that they can formulate the best method for fixing your neck health problems.

Although certain complications can be scary, it is best to make sure that you get better.  There are certain risks with any important surgery, but you will feel a lot better if you go through with it.  In fact, over ninety percent of the people who go through cervical spine surgery see a complete or nearly complete relief of their symptoms.  This is very much worth the fear and price for a lot of people who have severe and terrible neck problems.  This may be the right procedure for you as well.

Invasive and Minimally Invasive Surgeries

When you are told that you need surgery to correct a health problem, most people assume that they only have once choice.  That they can either go through with the surgery or keep having their health problems.  With some procedures, that isn’t the case.  There are actually several different methods to achieve the same results.  A good example of this is cervical spine surgery.  There is a classic way to go about this, but it has a lot of complications and long recovery times. This isn’t the only way to go about it, though.  For a less invasive approach, you could get endoscopic cervical spine surgery instead.

While there may be different kinds of surgery in order to achieve the same goal, the reasons for these surgeries are usually the same.  First off, you will be having painful neck problems.  This pain is usually chronic and can cause other problems, such as frequent headaches.  For people who go ahead with these surgeries, their pain is usually chronic, and it interferes with their life.  But just because you have neck pain doesn’t mean you are a good candidate for the surgery.  You will also need to have the right reasons for that pain.  This includes injury, degenerative disorders, and cervical deformities.  Your doctor and a spine specialist will be able to determine if you are right for this kind of surgery and whether it would help alleviate your pain.

The main type of cervical spine surgery is rather invasive.  The surgeon will cut open the skin and flesh of your neck in order to get at the spine underneath.  They will then remove the part of the spine that is causing the problems.  This is usually either a disc or part of a bone.  Once this is removed, they then need to put everything back together.  This is done by fusing two vertebrae together with the help of a bone graft.  Once complete, they will sew you back up and the procedure will be over.

If this sounds painful and invasive to you, you would be right.  Not only is it a tough procedure, but there are many cervical spine surgery complications because of it.  some people may go through the procedure without any complications, but this isn’t always so common.  There are many cervical spine surgery complications that can really get in the way.  For instance, you may find that certain parts of your body are injured, including your vocal cords, esophagus, carotid artery, or your spinal cords.  It can even damage your nerves.  While this isn’t completely common, it can happen.

This isn’t the only way to get the same helpful results, though.  If you want to forgo many of these complications, as well as the lengthy recovery times associated with cervical spine surgery, you could go the endoscopic route.  Endoscopic cervical spine surgery is much less invasive than the regular, more common form of spine surgery.  It has much less negative side effects and a much shorter recovery time.  Not everyone can use this method, though.  Ask your doctor about endoscopic surgery as an option to see if you qualify.  Although they may not pose this to you from the get go, it is very much worth the effort in asking.

As you can see, there is more than one way to get your neck fixed of its problems.  You could go the full surgery route, which has a better success rate for a wider range of people.  If you are concerned about the invasiveness of the procedure, you could choose the gentler surgery of endoscopic cervical spine surgery instead.

Reasons for Cervical Spine Surgery

If you have neck problems, you know how much it can affect your everyday life.  You don’t be able to move as well or cleanly as other people because you’ll be afraid of getting a neck ache.  Not only is the actually pain a bother, but it can affect other aspects of your life as well.  For instance, most people who experience chronic, consistent neck pain also experience many headaches that come along with them.  If your neck pain is particularly bad, you may be able to get it fixed by going through surgery.

Although there are complications that can come from a surgery such as this, it is still a good idea for people who have a lower quality of life because of their chronic pain.

Depending on the reason for your neck pain, you may benefit from going through cervical spine surgery. This is a type of surgery that helps many different people.  One of the reasons that you may need the surgery is because of degenerative disease in the discs of your neck vertebrae.  This happens when the discs shrink, which leads to herniation.  This can also happen if you have arthritis in the vertebrae of your neck as well.  Degenerative disorders can be very painful, so it’s helpful to go through with the spine surgery.

Another reason why you may need surgery is because of a cervical deformity.  Your cervical spine is the vertebrae in the upper neck region.  If you have a deformity there, you may have swan neck or hyperlordosis. The surgery will help by straightening out and stabilizing the spine, allowing for easier movement and much less pain.  Spinal stenosis is another reason why you may need the surgery.  This happens when the spinal canal within your vertebrae is narrower than normal.  Surgery can help with this condition.

While these are great reasons to go through the surgery, one of the biggest is because of injury.  When you get hurt, such as in a car accident, the vertebrae in your neck can become damaged.  If this happens, cervical spine surgery is often the way to go, or you may find that you will have constant neck pain from then on.  Whatever your reasons, it is up to your doctor to decide whether or not this kind of surgery is right for you.  Like with any form of surgery, there is some risk involved.  You could get sick or hurt, and possibly even die.  That’s why you should only go through with the surgery if your condition is very bad.  On the plus side, over 90% of the people who go through with the surgery will feel complete or nearly complete relief of all of their symptoms.

Before you decide to go ahead with the surgery, you should first learn what happens during the procedure.  The surgeon will remove the offending disc or bone, and then fuse the vertebrae together with a bone graft.  Although it sounds scary and painful, this procedure has helped scores of people who have had severe pain in their necks.  That is the goal, after all.

If you do have severe and chronic neck pain, it’s a good idea to visit your doctor.  They may refer you to a spinal doctor in order to determine if you are right for the spinal surgery.  Even if they highly recommend the procedure, it is up to you whether or not you want to go through with it.  Be sure to look over all of the material that your doctor gives you.  Pay close attention to the side effects and possible complications of the surgery.