Treat yourself like a King | Back pain

Back pain is so severe that having it makes us feel like we are being persecuted or even tortured. Well, if it is any consolation, it happens to everyone, even a king.

The Thoracic spine is the part between your neck and low back. Disc injuries are much less common in the thoracic spine than the low back, but they have the same mechanism. A tear in the tough outer part of the disc allows the softer, inner part to ‘herniate’ out. The soft disc material, shown here in dark blue, is irritating to the nerve root and causes pain.

In the lower back nerve root pain goes down the leg; so, the pain goes down the leg. In the thoracic spine nerves follow the ribs and wrap around the chest wall, so the pain wraps around the chest wall.

“Everyone is entitled to have proper care for themselves when they are sick or in pain, and you owe it to yourself to get the best”

We do not know the details of the surgery King Abdullah underwent, but thoracic discectomy is done using a microscope or sometimes thoracoscopically. The procedure takes less than an hour. Recovery is 1-2 weeks.

If you or someone you love has a spinal problem that requires surgery, treat yourself like a King. Find a Neurosurgeon or orthopedic spine surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive surgery even if you need to fly to another country to see them. Make sure your surgeon operates in a facility that has a wealth of experience doing spine and joint surgery. Everyone is entitled to have proper care for themselves when they are in pain, and you owe it to yourself to get the best.