Spine Surgery

Brain Magic

2012-01-14T20:39:00.001-08:00

Jennifer Grey Spine Surgery

2010-09-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

All Jennifer Grey DWTS dance videos here!

Thanks to Dancing With the Stars' requirement that contestants be healthy (at least when they start the show), Jennifer Grey still has many more times-of-her-life to be had.

The actress' rep confirmed that a spinal surgeon who counts Karina Smirnoff as a patient encouraged Grey to have what she thought was a benign nodule removed from her neck last year.

And it's a good thing she did, because the lump turned out to be cancerous.

After the December 2009 procedure, Grey "required no follow-up treatment and was given a clean bill of health to be part of this season's cast on Dancing With the Stars," her rep says The 50-year-old Dirty Dancing star (my, how time flies) told the DWTS docs that her neck was "killing" her, chronic pain from a bad car accident years ago, and that she should get it checked out by a specialist to see if she was fit enough to do the show.

"I went to this neurological spine surgeon who I heard was the best," Grey said.

First of all, the ligaments in the back of her neck were torn, her spinal cord was compressed and the doctor told her that a fall or even a minor car accident could leave her paralyzed.

"He also said to me, 'What's that lump in your neck?'" Grey recalled. "I said, 'Oh, it's just a benign nodule that I've been watching for four years.' I didn't want to have surgery for it, but he said, 'That has to go.' They took out half of it, and it turned out to be cancerous. Then they took the second half out on Christmas Eve."

And now, the only fall Grey has to worry about is the fall season of DWTS, premiering Sept. 20. The actress, who "didn't do the lift, but it was good," is partnered with two-time champ Derek Hough and is already considered an early favorite.

All Jennifer Grey DWTS dance videos here!

Spinal Decompression

2009-11-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

Spinal Decompression

Spinal decompression offers hope where to those who suffer from acute pain or chronic back or neck pain caused by a bulging disc, herniated disc or disc degeneration,that could not be treated using traditional methods such as medication, physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage, and acupuncture.

The spinal decompression procedure is an advanced form of traction therapy that is commonly used in many centers of Chiropractic and Physiotherapy. However, spinal decompression is more precise: it allows to isolate a disc in particular, which is damaged, and apply a controlled traction force to this level only. It is precise and painless. The treatment was applied three to five days a week for four or five weeks, for a total of 20 to 25 visits.

Spinal decompression creates a negative pressure inside the disc, which sucks the herniated inside and reduces the bulging disc. The disc is re-hydrated and absorbs the nutrients it needs to regenerate due to the decrease in pressure. During treatment, patients can listen to music, watch a DVD, or even sleep. Spinal decompression is a safe, non-surgical treatment.

Spine surgery

2009-11-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

In order to treat back pain, you have several options. One of them is spine surgery. Although rarely the first choice to treat back pain, spine surgery may be necessary after other back treatments have failed or in some emergency cases. Because spine surgery is a complex operation, surgeons will advise three to six months of conservative back pain treatment before getting to spine surgery. There are 3 different procedures:

Discectomy
Herniated discs are most likely treated with this spine surgery procedure. The surgeon will remove a portion of the damaged discs; pressure on the pinched nerves will then be relieved. The herniated discs might be removed completely in some cases, depending on the severity of the damage.

Foramenotomy
A foramenotomy is pretty much the same type of spine surgery than the discectomy (relieving pressure on the pinched nerves that create back pain by altering disc) but it will also remove a fragment of bone and/or other tissue in the spinal column.

Laminectomy
A laminectomy will relieve pressure on the actual spinal cord. This type of spine surgery is mainly performed to treat spondylolisthesis and/or the most common spinal stenosis. This type of spine surgery may be performed with a spinal fusion that will secure stability.