The Spine Institute Blog

By James Hicks, M.D.
Fellowship-Trained Spine Surgeon

Think of your spine as a stack of blocks with soft cushions (spinal discs) between each one. These cushions can sometimes get damaged due to varied reasons, leading to pain and instability.

In traditional spine surgeries, the common solution is often to “fuse” these blocks together to limit movement and alleviate pain, a method known as spinal fusion. While effective, this can sometimes put additional strain on the surrounding blocks.

Motion Preservation Surgery offers an alternative. Instead of fusing the blocks, this advanced surgical approach aims to restore or maintain the natural movement of your spine. This can involve replacing a damaged cushion with an artificial one or supporting the blocks to move more naturally, reducing the likelihood of issues arising in adjacent blocks.

Suffering a herniated disc (also called a slipped disc or ruptured disc) may be one of the most serious injuries of your life so far. Although it is a very common injury for people 35-55 years old who are active, it does cause significant distress and disruption to life. Unfortunately, the recovery time may be longer than you expected—and the lingering pain might be the bane of your existence for a few months. What can you do to make sure that you are getting the most effective treatment to fix this temporary medical problem?

A spinal procedure that gets you out of the hospital faster

Every fitness lover who lives for the exhilarating highs of training for the Boston Marathon or the weekends filled with rugged adventure in unexplored terrains dreads the day when their body needs a tune up. Back and neck pain is an incredibly common problem for people, and even the most savvy weekend warriors may not be able to escape it. When it’s gotten so serious that you may be looking at spine surgery, you’ll find out that there is a way to make it as painless as possible.