Back, Neck and Disc Injuries Treatment

A herniated disc, bulging disc, lumbar facet injury, radiculopathy, pinched nerve, SI joint syndrome, cervical instability, cervical facet injury, neck instability and back instability all cause pain. These back, neck and disc injuries can put you out of commission for a significant amount of time, too. Talk to a NYC pain specialist about regenerative stem cell therapy.

Back pain isn’t anybody’s idea of fun, especially if you’re looking at living with the pain for the rest of your life. Back pain can originate in your spine. But — since your spine connects nerves to other parts of your body — back problems can translate into pain anywhere from your neck to your feet.

Until recent advances in stem cell technology, your only options were surgery and pain management. But thanks to advances in regenerative techniques and more widespread acceptance of the treatment, you have better options.

You’ve Got Nerve

You have 31 pairs of spinal nerves that emerge from both sides of your spine. These nerves act as both sensory and motor nerves, sending and receiving messages between your brain and the rest of your body. Even if you experience pain in other parts of your body, you may be suffering from nerve compression.

You’ve probably used the term “pinched nerve,” but a real pinched nerve is serious. It’s another way of referring to nerve compression. If you aggravate it further or don’t treat it, a pinched nerve can turn into radiculopathy. Pinched nerves and radiculopathy can affect your arms, hands and fingers, as well as your legs, feet and toes. Symptoms include:

• Weakness
• Tingling
• Numbness
• Pain

Nerve issues can wreak havoc across your body. Without treatment, nerve compression can break down the protective barrier around your nerves and cause additional problems.

Try Stem Cell Therapy for Back Pain

Stem cell therapy is gaining popularity in the U.S. for treating nerve problems. It works a couple of different ways. Nerve compression typically is caused by swelling somewhere on your spine. Once the source is identified by a physician experienced in stem cell therapy, the process can begin.

Stem cells have amazing anti-inflammatory properties, so they can reduce the swelling, which relieves your pain. But if it’s something like a herniated disc that’s putting pressure on your nerve, stem cells also treat the cause of the nerve compression.

SI Joint Syndrome: A Whole Other Issue

If standing up or sitting down cause pain in your lower back, you may be having trouble with your sacroiliac or SI joint. You have an SI joint on each side of your lower spine. The pain from SI joint syndrome can be dull or sharp. And you may notice the pain more in your buttocks, groin, thighs or upper back.

Activities like jogging can inflame your SI joint. If you have one leg that’s naturally a little longer than the other, wear and tear can aggravate the joint. Unnatural movements can irritate your SI joint, too. SI joint syndrome may lead to hip arthritis.

The anti-inflammatory properties of stem cells make a major difference in your ability to move around without pain. The stem cells kick-start your body’s own healing process to fix your SI joint instead of trying to medicate your symptoms away, like traditional SI treatment.

Another Facet of Joint Problems

Facet joint problems are both common and recurrent. And they can cause disabling pain. A facet joint protects the bony protrusions where two vertebrae meet. These joints add stability to your spinal column. If you suffer from an injury like a lumbar facet injury, you may have trouble bending and twisting. Cervical facet injury, which involves the facets of your neck, can mean you have to turn your whole body to look left or right.

Lumbar facet injury refers to damaged facets in your lower back. This makes it difficult for you to get out of a chair or stand up straight. Osteoarthritis is often linked to facet problems. When stem cells are used with platelet rich plasma, the treatment repairs the damaged structure and strengthens the cartilage, which can prevent arthritis.

Bulging Disc and Herniated Disc Issues

The difference between bulging discs and herniated discs is really a matter of degrees. A bulging disc means that the soft jelly-like filling of your disc has managed to push through the casing of your disc. A herniated disc is the term used when the jelly-like substance has protruded so far that it’s putting pressure on a nerve root. This is also called a slipped disc or a ruptured disc.

Both are uncomfortable, but the herniated disc is usually more painful because of the compression on your nerve. If either of these are the source of your trouble, you may experience:

• Pain in your arms or legs
• Weakness
• Numbness or tingling

Stem cell injections have achieved proven results in the areas surrounding inflamed spinal nerves. It may be necessary to inject the disc itself but the swelling reacts well to the injections and will decrease considerably in a couple weeks.

Issues with Instability

Another leading cause of chronic pain is ligament instability. This can be the product of natural degeneration or the result of injury. Instability anywhere can make you feel like you’re moving your body more than what it can tolerate.

If your ligaments fail to hold your bones and joints in their correct positions, it’ll compromise their ability to move like they should. This can be extremely painful, and it can lead to muscle spasms because they’re overworked. Common areas of instability are:

• Cervical instability
• Neck instability
• Back instability
• Rib instability

The best way to fight instability is to strengthen your ligaments. And stem cells from your bone marrow do exactly this. They promote the growth of new ligament cells, which essentially repair your tissue damage.

Hope for Back, Neck and Disc Pain

These back, neck and disc conditions have the potential to interfere with your everyday life. Discuss treatment options with your stem cell specialist. In many cases, stem cell therapy can repair the damage, and it’s a minimally invasive procedure with no downtime. The entire outpatient procedure takes little more than an hour in most cases:

1. Your doctor numbs a small area and extracts your bone marrow with a needle.
2. The stem cells are separated from the rest of your bone marrow in a closed system.
3. Your doctor then injects the stem cells directly into your problem area.
4. After-care consists of a Band-Aid and some acetaminophen.

If your specialist opts for a platelet rich plasma treatment, the procedure is equally easy:

1. Your doctor draws some blood with a needle.
2. The platelets are separated from the rest of your blood.
3. The platelets are added to a smaller amount of plasma.
4. It’s then injected back into your body to help it heal itself.