We've Got Your Back 2011 [1 of 3] - Penn state hershey spine center

[ Music ] >> Tonight, -- >> My quality of life was just horrible. I couldn't do things I like to do. I couldn't hit golf balls. >> -- an abc27 special presentation. >> The pain was excruciating. The least amount of motion would cause numbness in my legs. It was to the point where I could barely walk. >> Penn State Hershey Spine Center presents, We've Got Your Back. Brought to you by Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center. >> Good evening. I'm Valerie Pritchett. Back pain. Most of us deal with it at some point in our lives. But what should we do when it becomes severe and stops us from doing every day activities? Tonight, doctors in Penn State Hershey Spine Center are here to tell us about treatments available for back and neck problems. If you have a question, call the number on the bottom of the screen. Specialists will be in the Call Center until eight. We will share some of those questions during the show tonight, however, all calls are confidential. Here's Debra Pinkerton to share a patient's story with you. Deborah. >> Thanks, Val. A York County man was forced to give up what he loves the most. It was all because of his back. Surgery gave him his life back. >> Golf is 54 year old Mike Sanders' greatest love but his back did not love the game. With every move, -- >> Oh inaudible. >> -- Mike's back twists and turns from placing the ball on the tee to getting into position to swinging the club. >> Oh, best yet. Fantastic. >> Mike's back forced him to give up the game for several years. >> The pain was excruciating. It was in my low back down through my buttock in my leg. You know, it went the whole way to my ankle. The least amount of motion would cause numbness and paresthesias in my legs. And on occasion, you know, if I pinched badly, like if I was reaching back to get shampoo for my hair in a shower, I could lose feeling in my legs. And I actually fell in the shower once because I lost feeling in my legs. >> Mike traces his back problems to high school. >> Well, I played football. I participated in track. I participated in wrestling. You know, I was, -- you know, even younger I played baseball all summer. You know, of course, that's, you know, nothing but a -- I was a catcher. I was always crouched down. So yeah, my back had been through hell. >> Mike turned to Neurosurgeon Dr. Jonas Sheehan for help. >> He had spondylolisthesis which is a mechanical failure that causes one bone to slip out of position relative to another bone. So the alignment of the spine was out of order. >> As the bones move and the structure shift, the nerves get pinched and that causes a great deal of pain and weakness and numbness and dysfunction. >> The surgical procedure, lumbar fusion, was an option, but Mike had fears about back surgery; so he chose physical therapy first. >> Had I wanted to, I could have been infused the moment that I met Dr. Sheehan because that's how bad my condition was. But that lingering thing, that thought in the back of my head, this is really going to have an adverse effect on things. If it doesn't work well, you know, I could be maybe worse off than I am now. So I wanted to try physical >> We integrated physical therapy with him, some medications for pain relief, for muscle spasms. And then he proceeded with that program, and we monitored the progress that he was making. >> For a year and a half, Mike pursued physical therapy. >> Well, Mike was involved in core strengthening exercises to help build up the strength in his core area. Those are the muscles that support the back. You have the para-spinal muscles which give the *** to the spine and then you have your abdominal muscles which provide the support from the front side. >> It allowed me to function, but it didn't eliminate the potential for that nerve to be pinched. So that was never going to get better unless I had the vertebrae fused. >> I think physical therapy was worth a try. In a situation like this, it might provide some time relief, but I don't think it's going to provide a permanent solution. >> Surgery was the next step. >> Yeah, there was fears. I got the sacraments from my priest. You know, I got a couple of priests that were praying for, you know, Dr. Sheehan's hands as well as my outcome. >> What we did during the operation was remove the bone behind the nerves to decompress the nerves and allow them to function normally and place screws in this bone at L4 and L5 and lock these screws together and then place some bone grafts where everything heals together nice and strong. >> After surgery, I was uncomfortable from the incision but I was up walking around. And each passing hour, you know, I got more and more confidence. >> Four months later Mike was back swinging the clubs. >> 410 yard Par 4. A little bit up the hill. >> All right. >> Ready? >> Now he's perfecting his game at the Hershey Country Club. >> [Natural Noises] Better. >> I feel great. >> Good. Excellent. Back to the center. >> It's given me a whole new outlook. Prior to surgery, I had no idea where it was going to lead. But now I've got the confidence if I can resume the things I like to do, get back to doing things I should be doing. And it's given me an opportunity to, you know, pick up where I left off. And I'm grateful for that. >> Mike had surgery 10 months ago. He's so positive about his progress he bought new golf clubs, and he plays a couple of times a week. Back to you, Val. >> Thank you, Debra. Joining us now in the studio is Dr. Mark Knaub from Penn State Hershey Spine Center. Is Mike's condition common? >> Mike's condition was a result of degenerative changes in his spine. Degenerative changes are extremely common. Almost everybody gets them as we get older. Spondylolisthesis are shifting of the vertebrae, is much less, less common. Only a couple percentage of the population would have something like that. >> What are the risks of having spine surgery? >> It depends on the severity of the procedure. All spine surgery is invasive. We worry about things like infection, bleeding, nerve damage can occur in that type of surgery. Fortunately, those things are very uncommon. For fusion procedures, we worry about the bones not growing together. Again, that's something that's fairly uncommon. But the bigger the surgery, the more risky those procedures are. >> What's the success rate? >> Success rate for surgery really depends on what you're trying to treat. So I try to break it down into people who have nerve symptoms, from pinching of a nerve or their spinal cord, and people who just have back or neck pain. Surgery to alleviate back or neck pain, not really successful. It works around 40 or 50 percent of the time. If you talk about nerve symptoms, 80, 90, 95 percent of those people will respond to surgery. >> And is surgery always the solution for spine problems? >> Fortunately, for most people, surgery is not the right answer. Almost everybody who has a back problem can be treated with conservative measures, whether it be medications, therapy, exercise, rehab, injections, but not too many people really need surgery. >> So what are the different procedures that are offered at the Spine Center? >> We do from the very simplest less invasive procedures to the maximally invasive surgeries. Things as simple discectomies, laminectomies, cervical and lumbar fusions. We do disc replacements in the cervical spine. Our pain management physicians do a variety of injections and other interventional procedures that aren't really surgery but can be helpful for people with back problems. >> Comprehensive. One stop. >> One stop. We can do pretty much any type of procedure that anybody needs. >> Dr., thank you for joining us tonight. >> My pleasure. >> Let's check in with Deborah Pinkerton who's in the Call Center. Deborah. >> Val, I'll tell you what, the phone lines open at seven o'clock and the specialists have been busy ever since. They're fielding calls about back pain, about neck pain. If you have a question, call that number on the screen, 346-3333. And they're here to help answer some of the [Inaudible] questions. This is Dr. David GM Petro. Thanks for being with us. This is the first for your question. I've had two spinal fusions. The second requiring a bone taken out of my hip and used as a spacer. Now I am beginning to experience pain in my lower right back below my waist going into the buttock's area. What should I do? >> Well, that depends on how soon the pain started after your last fusion. For instance, if it's been since under a year since your last fusion, then you want to talk to your spine surgeon to see if the fusion took. If, however, it's been several years since your last fusion, then you can see a nonsurgical spine specialist to determine if you have adjacent level disease for which you may undergo medication management, physical therapy, or even injections. [ Silence ]