Promising tested non-mainstream treatments

[Crystal33]

Alexander technique (i have adopted the basics as poor posture part of my prob)
Randomised controlled trial of Alexander technique lessons, exercise, and massage (ATEAM) for chronic and recurrent back pain -- Little et al. 337: a884 -- BMJ

Acupressure (anyone tried this?)
Treatment of low back pain by acupressure and physical therapy: randomised controlled trial -- Hsieh et al. 332 (7543): 696 -- BMJ

Ozone/oxygen injection
Ozone/Oxygen Shot Helps Heal Herniated Disk - Chronic Pain: Health and Medical Information Concerning Chronic Pain Management on MedicineNet.com
"He predicts that this procedure will become standard in the United States within the next five years."

[Jim M2]

I tried acupressure prior to ADR. It didn't seem to help at all. The acupressure practitioner, or whatever they're called, showed me many different points so I could acupressure myself. It didn't seem to help at all.

[Crystal33]

thanks Jim.

[Maria]

I tried accupunture and accupressure after my failed L4 percutaneous discectomy and it didn't really help except mentally. I was taught how to do some accupressure points which seemed to help with my foot pain to some degree but not my really horrible spinal/leg pain. ESIs helped me, Gabapentin and low dose Methadone. Tho it might be a good adjunct to these things now.. haven't tried it in a long time.

[Crystal33]

thanks Maria. i'm borderline surgery and wanting to avoid, but am very restricted.

this is a recent Percutaneous Discectomy procedure using water, done as outpatient surgery.
SpineJetMicroResector
Lumbar Radicular Symptoms in a 24-Year-old Male (Spinal Case Study)

found the following........
"I lived with excruciating back-and-leg pain for years. Two months ago, Dr. Schiffer performed the new HydroDiscectomy procedure to treat my condition. Since then, beginning immediately after the procedure, I've been pain-free. I'm so impressed with Dr. Schiffer and this minimally invasive procedure that I carry the doctor's business cards with me and pass them out to anyone who's suffering from back-and-leg pain." Nate Woods, 42, Morgan Hill, Calif.

[mmglobal]

Crystal... thanks for the posts.

I've seen several presentations on the ozone treatments that are quite impressive. At the conferences, most of the surgeons I spoke to are very skeptical. (But are they skeptical of any treatment without a scalpel?)

ATEAM wins the acronym contest.

I attended a video seminar on the spinejet system earlier this year and posted here:

Mimally invasive TLIF w/Hydrocision (interesting BMP data too)

Read down to post 6 for what I wrote about Dr. Schiffer.

[Crystal33]

The HydroDiscectomy seems much preferable due to being so minimally invasive. Except that it now appears that any incision or puncture to disc can cause accelerated disc degeneration and higher risk of future reherniation.

From the conclusion below any discectomy should be avoided if possible. Much more focus and research needs needs to be directed to anular repair / healing, espec biological as an adjunct to any anular assault, and to help ppl suffering anular tears.

2009: Carragee Eugene J; Don Angus S; Hurwitz Eric L; Cuellar Jason M; Carrino John; Herzog Richard
2009 ISSLS Prize Winner: Does discography cause accelerated progression of degeneration changes in the lumbar disc: a ten-year matched cohort study.
Spine 2009;34(21):2338-45.
STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, match-cohort study of disc degeneration progression over 10 years with and without baseline discography. Objectives. To compare progression of common degenerative findings between lumbar discs injected 10 years earlier with those same disc levels in matched subjects not exposed to discography. Summary of Background Data. Experimental disc puncture in animal and in vivo studies have demonstrated accelerated disc degeneration. Whether intradiscal diagnostic or treatment procedures used in clinical practice causes any damage to the punctured discs over time is currently unknown.

METHODS: Seventy-five subjects without serious low back pain illness underwent a protocol MRI and an L3/4, L4/5, and L5/S1 discography examination in 1997. A matched group was enrolled at the same time and underwent the same protocol MRI examination. Subjects were followed for 10 years. At 7 to 10 years after baseline assessment, eligible discography and controlled subjects underwent another protocol MRI examination. MRI graders, blind to group designation, scored both groups for qualitative findings (Pfirrmann grade, herniations, endplate changes, and high intensity zone). Loss of disc height and loss of disc signal were measured by quantitative methods.

RESULTS: Well matched cohorts, including 50 discography subjects and 52 control subjects, were contacted and met eligibility criteria for follow-up evaluation. In all graded or measured parameters, discs that had been exposed to puncture and injection had greater progression of degenerative findings compared to control (noninjected) discs: progression of disc degeneration, 54 discs (35%) in the discography group compared to 21 (14%) in the control group (P = 0.03); 55 new disc herniations in the discography group compared to 22 in the control group (P = 0.0003). New disc herniations were disproportionately found on the side of the anular puncture (P = 0.0006). The quantitative measures of disc height and disc signal also showed significantly greater loss of disc height (P = 0.05) and signal intensity (P = 0.001) in the discography disc compared to the control disc.

CONCLUSION: Modern discography techniques using small gauge needle and limited pressurization resulted in accelerated disc degeneration, disc herniation, loss of disc height and signal and the development of reactive endplate changes compared to match-controls. Careful consideration of risk and benefit should be used in recommending procedures involving disc injection.

[Crystal33]

non disc invasive treatment.......

Ultrazonix
Ultrazonix is a medical technology company established in 2001 which bases its products on research conducted by Professor Lars Lidgren at Lund University. The company has developed an ultrasound based method for treatment of herniated discs. The method is a minimally invasive intervention where an ultrasound probe is placed on the surface of the intervertrebral disc surface whereupon focused ultrasound is applied and the gelatinous disc proteins coagulate. Coagulation reduces the hydrophilic properties of the proteins which results in shrinkage of the disc and relief of the patient's pain. The Ultrazonix method replaces conventional surgery, currently the most common way to treat a herniated disc. The result is the same, but the treatment is simpler and the patient recovers more quickly. The company is located in Lund and has four employees.

The Ultrazonix product is intended for high intensity focused ultrasound treatment of chronic back pain caused by herniated discs. The product is CE marked and has FDA clearance in the United States.