CRPS pain and inflammation can make going about your daily life difficult. While there’s no known cure for complex regional pain syndrome, an effective treatment plan can significantly minimize your symptoms.
If you’re living with lumbar spinal stenosis, daily routines and activities can be difficult, and even unbearable. The pain, numbness, and weakness interrupts the things you love to do and leaves you feeling drained.
There are several treatments for lumbar spinal stenosis, ranging from nonsurgical treatments — like pain medications, anti-inflammatory medications, epidural injections, and physical therapy — to varying surgical treatments.
But at Houston Pain Specialists, board-certified pain management specialist Hui Kang, MD, recommends an innovative, minimally invasive procedure for lumbar spinal stenosis called the Vertiflex™ procedure. In this blog, we go over everything you need to know about Vertiflex.
Major surgery comes with a laundry list of risks and complications and is accompanied by recovery times that can last months. If pain management regimens such as physical therapy and medication are no longer working for you, there is a middle ground.
Vertiflex is an outpatient procedure done with a local anesthetic and a tiny incision. Rather than cutting through the surrounding tissue, we use a small tube, also known as a dilator, to move the tissue and create a path for placing a small, titanium alloy implant called Superion™.
The Superion implant goes between two bony projections off the back of each vertebrae, called spinous processes. This limits extension and preserves spinal motion while taking the pressure off of your nerves and spinal cord.
Each person’s case is unique, so there are multiple sizes of the Superion implant.
The procedure takes 20-30 minutes, depending on if you need one or two implants. Many of our patients feel relief immediately afterward. Full recovery is typically six weeks, but you may engage in light activity as soon as you feel comfortable doing so.
The effects of Vertiflex are long-term, with 90% of patients reporting satisfaction with the procedure five years later.
Though the Vertiflex procedure is considered to be safe and effective, there are risks. In rare cases, the Superion implant could become dislodged or the spinous processes of your vertebrae could fracture when the implant is placed.
It’s also possible that the implant may not completely relieve your pain, but many of our patients have gotten relief from pain with the Vertiflex procedure.
If you want lumbar spinal stenosis to be a thing of the past, our experienced team at Houston Pain Specialists is here to help relieve your pain and get you back to what you love doing. Give us a call to schedule an appointment at our Houston, Texas, office.
You Might Also Enjoy...
CRPS pain and inflammation can make going about your daily life difficult. While there’s no known cure for complex regional pain syndrome, an effective treatment plan can significantly minimize your symptoms.
Rheumatoid arthritis can lead to severe complications, from deformity to a shortened lifespan, if it goes unmanaged. Thankfully, an effective treatment plan can help.
If you’re dealing with back pain that won’t let up, you may need to have the pressure relieved in your spine. Little does as well as spinal decompression, a nonsurgical treatment that can bring very positive results.
When other pain management treatments haven’t worked for your back pain, don’t give up. Read on to learn about spinal cord stimulation and how it can help manage your pain.
Post-laminectomy syndrome, a painful condition, sometimes occurs after back surgery — surgery that was supposed to ease your pain. If you’re considering a laminectomy, read on to learn about the risk factors for post-laminectomy syndrome.
Headaches can range from mildly irritating to completely debilitating. Getting them frequently only adds to the frustration. Read on to learn about chronic daily headaches and what can be done to treat them.