Being made up of 7 bones (One on top of the other), the cervical spine (Vertebrae) plays an important role in allowing your neck to move in a free and flexible way. And when the space between the bones of the cervical spine narrows, you may experience pain. This condition is known as disc degeneration. There are many non-surgical ways on how to treat this condition. But if neither of them helps, the one possible way to get free of the pain is to consider surgery and get a cervical disc replacement.
Cervical disc replacement, as the name suggests, is a surgery where your ailing disc gets removed and replaced with an artificial one.
This type of surgery is a recent one, and it has proved to be way more efficient compared to the traditional one, where your ailing disc gets removed by fusing the vertebrae and impeding motion.
IS CERVICAL DISC REPLACEMENT NECESSARY?
It really depends on how badly your cervical spine has degenerated.
Losing space between the bones of the cervical spine is not uncommon. In fact, it happens to a lot of people, especially to the old ones. Cervical discs are known to become less and less flexible with age and tear with a single abrupt movement of the neck and body without you even realizing it.
The symptoms of disc degeneration may include stiffness and pain in the neck, weakness of your arms and legs, and even headache.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CERVICAL DISC REPLACEMENT SURGERY
During the surgery, you’ll be under general anesthesia and asleep. The surgery usually lasts for several hours. They may also put a tube in your throat to supplement your breathing. Your heart rate and blood pressure will be monitored the whole time, as well as the oxygen intake. The incision will be made in the front of your neck. And the procedure of the cervical disc replacement will begin. After the surgery, they will put a sterile pad over the incision, and they may also put a soft collar over your neck to impede movement.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE SURGERY?
First of all, the effect of the anesthesia has to wear off. When that happens and you wake up, you may experience pain, which is normal. And if the pain is too strong, they may give you pain reliever medicine too. Also, you won’t be allowed to leave the hospital for two or three days, and intravenous fluids will be included until you recover and are able to eat and drink normally again.
