Neck Surgery
You doctor has diagnosed you with degenerative disc disease and basically, this problem is just a part of getting older. Unfortunately, as we age, our interverterbal discs lose their flexibility, elasticity, and shock absorbing characteristics. The ligaments that surround the disc become brittle and are easily torn. And if that's not bad enough, the soft gel-like center of the disc starts to dry out and shrink. This happens to everyone, but not everyone experiences excessive pain like you.
The worn out discs are the source of your pain because they don't function as they once did, and as they shrink, the space available for the nerve roots and the spinal cord also shrinks. As the discs between the intervertebral bodies start to wear out, the entire cervical spine becomes less flexible. As a result, you are experiencing neck pain and stiffness, which may be more noticeable towards the end of your day.
Symptoms
• Neck pain that radiates down the back of the shoulder blades or into the arms
• Numbness
• Tingling
• Occasional difficulties with hand dexterity or walking
• Muscle weakness
• Sciatica and/or back pain
Your doctor may recommend surgery if non-surgical treatment fails to provide relief from these symptoms. Traditionally, a procedure called an anterior cervical discectomy with fusion would be the surgery of choice, but today there is a different option, the Prestige cervical disc offers patients with symptoms related to degenerative cervical disc disease in the cervical spine an alternative to spinal fusion surgery. Constructed of stainless steel in a unique, two-piece ball-and-trough configuration, the device is designed to maintain motion at the treated vertebral segment.
Made of stainless steel, the device has two articulating components, a ball on top and a trough on the bottom that are inserted into the disc space and attached to the vertebral bodies on either side. These components function like a joint, replicating the motion, flexion, extension, side bending and rotation of a natural intervertebral disc. This artificial disc is available in a variety of sizes which allows your surgeon to closely match your anatomy.
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