Lower Back Pain Causes by Age: What Changes and Why
Lower back pain causes by age is one of the most common topics that comes up in consultations. “Is this normal for my age, or is something wrong?” I get some version of that question in nearly every consultation, and it’s a fair one. Lower back pain causes by age shift over the course of…
Herniated Disc in the Neck: What Patients Can Expect
I’m Michael R. Wheeler, MD, a spine surgeon with offices in Dallas and Plano. If you are wondering about a herniated disc in the neck and what to expect, the questions are almost always the same when someone comes in after a new diagnosis of a cervical disc herniation. Does this get better, how long…
Cervical Radiculopathy: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
The pain starts in the neck but it does not stay there. It moves down the shoulder, into the upper arm, sometimes all the way into the fingers. It might feel like burning, like pressure, or like an electric current running through the arm. In some patients it comes with numbness. In others, weakness in…
When Neck Pain Becomes a Spine Problem
Most neck pain gets better on its own. You slept wrong, spent too many hours hunched over a screen, or strained something during a workout. A few days of rest and it fades. That is the version most people experience, and it is usually not cause for alarm. But some neck pain does not follow…
Microdiscectomy Recovery: What I Tell My Patients to Expect
Understanding the microdiscectomy recovery timeline can help you know what to expect after surgery, from immediate pain relief to the gradual healing of the affected nerve. T The leg pain from a herniated disc in your lower back is unlike most pain people have had. It doesn’t stay put. It shoots from your back into…
Lumbar Laminectomy: How Taking the Pressure Off Stops the Leg Pain
Lumbar laminectomy is one of the most effective surgical treatments for relieving nerve pressure caused by spinal stenosis and helping patients get back to walking with less pain. Most people who end up needing a laminectomy don’t come to me for back pain. They come for leg pain. A heavy, cramping, burning feeling that starts…
Let’s Talk About Your Options
If you’re trying to decide whether surgery makes sense — or just want to understand what recovery would look like for your specific situation — that’s exactly the kind of conversation I have in consultation.
