If you have chronic back pain, you know that, in addition to the discomfort, it can be a major inconvenience to life and work. It can interfere with your mobility and reduce the amount of time that you spend being active and enjoying your daily life. And, if your job requires you to be physical, it could prevent you from being able to complete many of your work-related activities.

A common source of back pain is a spinal disc herniation. Spinal disc herniations cause pain because they have ruptured out of their normal space and are pressing on a spinal nerve. For some, the pain can be debilitating.

Imagine that the discs of your spine are like a sponge on your sink. When the sponge gets dry, brittle and thin, pieces of it start coming off and the sponge doesn’t work well. On the other hand, a sponge that is new and moist functions perfectly. This is a good way to think about the discs of the spine since they are mostly composed of fluid. The goal of regenerative medicine is to keep them healthy, moist and functioning well.

To read our full e-book on this subject, you can download your copy here.

References:

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2. Harvard Men’s Health Watch. June, 2014. When is back surgery the right choice? https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/when-is-back-surgery-the-right-choice

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18594765

4. Acta Neurochir Suppl. 2005;92:79-82. Intradiscal injection of oxygen-ozone gas mixture for the treatment of cervical disc herniations. Alexandre A¹, Corò L, Azuelos A, Buric J, Salgado H, Murga M, Marin F, Giocoli H. European Neurosurgical Institute, Treviso, Italy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15830973

5. Pain Physician. 2012 Mar-Apr;15(2):E115-29. Ozone therapy as a treatment for low back pain secondary to herniated disc: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Magalhaes FN¹, Dotta L, Sasse A, Teixera MJ, Fonoff ET. Hospital das Clnicas, Department of Neurology, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil.  
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22430658

6. Asian Spine J. 2018 Jun;12(3):574-585. doi: 10.4184/asj.2018.12.3.574. Epub 2018 Jun 4. Etiology, Evaluation, and Treatment of Failed Back Surgery Syndrome. Sebaaly A¹, Lahoud MJ², Rizkallah M¹, Kreichati G¹, Kharrat K¹. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hôtel Dieu de France Hospital, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon. Department of Anesthesiology, Hôtel Dieu de France Hospital, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29879788

7. Neuromodulation. 2017 Jun;20(4):354-360. doi: 10.1111/ner.12584. Epub 2017 Mar 21. Impact of Insurance Provider on Overall Costs in Failed Back Surgery Syndrome: A Cost Study of 122,827 Patients. Elsamadicy AA¹, Farber SH¹, Yang S², Hussaini SMQ¹, Murphy KR¹, Sergesketter A¹, Suryadevara CM¹, Pagadala P¹, Parente B¹, Xie J², Lad SP¹. Department of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.  Department of Biostatistics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28322477

8. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2017 May;68(2):171-177. doi: 10.1016/j.carj.2016.12.007. Intradiscal O₂O₃: Rationale, Injection Technique, Short- and Long-term Outcomes for the Treatment of Low Back Pain Due to Disc Herniation. Giurazza F¹, Guarnieri G², Murphy KJ³, Muto M². Radiology Department, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy. Neuroradiology Department, Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy. Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28438284

9. International Journal of Spine Surgery. 2014 Dec 1;8. doi: 10.14444/1017. eCollection 2014. Five and ten year follow-up on intradiscal ozone injection for disc herniation. Buric J¹, Rigobello L², Hooper D³. Villa Torri Hospital, Bologna, Italy. Department for Neurosurgery University of Padua, Padova, Italy. Minimus Spine, Inc. Austin, TX.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25694935

10. National American Spine Society Annual Meeting. October 27, 2016 Patients with multiple discectomies had high likelihood of subsequent lumbar fusion. A study presented by Patrick Heindel, BS, Jeffrey C. Wang, MD, professor of orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery and co-director of the University of South Carolina Spine Center.  https://www.healio.com/spine-surgery/lumbar/news/online/%7B9b0018cb-7aef-4872-8756-a89fba592366%7D/patients-with-multiple-discectomies-had-high-likelihood-of-subsequent-lumbar-fusion