Summary
A patient from Virginia had been living with unpredictable, debilitating lower back pain for five years. Episodes that would strike without warning and leave him bedridden for a week or more at a time, starting from a gardening injury. After years of chiropractic care and spinal decompression that provided only brief relief, an orthopedic doctor told him back surgery was “a coin toss” and recommended physical therapy an answer that wasn’t good enough. He researched extensively, found Dr. Deukmedjian on YouTube, submitted his MRI, had a virtual consultation within two days, and was in surgery ten days later. The morning after his Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at L4-5 and L5-S1, he reported his back feeling 100%, slept flat in a bed for the first time in two months, and was heading to Orlando for a round of golf the same day.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I’m Dr. Deukmedjian at Deuk Spine Institute here with a patient from Virginia who came out to Deuk Spine Institute yesterday for surgery. We fixed two discs in his lower back. You’re having back pain for some time. Do you still have that same back pain?
Patient: No. Gone. I feel my back feels 100% this morning. I was able to sleep in the bed laying flat for the first time in two months. I was sleeping on the couch for those two months and I did not get good sleep at all. So I feel great in my back.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Good. Well, that’s why we’re here. We wanted to cure your back pain and give you quality of life back. What was life like living with that back pain?
Patient: Any day you’d be like. It could happen today. I could go down with back pain, severe back pain, for a week. And that happened. My first pain started about five years ago. I was working on the flower garden. I went down with severe pain. I was down for probably a month that time. And ever since then it was just like randomly, just out of the blue, I’d go down for another week with severe back pain. It was just no way to live, because I knew every day waking up it could happen today.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: There’s no way to live because then you’ve got to be careful every day. You don’t want to set it off. You’re worried about it, you’re thinking about it. It takes control of your whole life. His back pain happened to be coming from two discs. Did you see any other doctors that recommended treatment for you in Virginia?
Patient: Yes. I was seeing chiropractors for the first number of years. The first chiropractor put me on this decompression table. He would pull you apart. I did that for six weeks. I felt a little relief at first, but it didn’t last very long. And I’ve been seeing just regular chiropractors throughout the years as well. And then when this happened, I saw an ortho doctor. He did not recommend surgery he recommended physical therapy. He said surgery was like a coin toss. It either works or it doesn’t. And that was not good enough for me. I needed a little bit more reassurance that it’s going to work. That’s when I started looking for other options. I had a lot of time on my hands, I did a lot of research, and I found Dr. Deuk here. I started watching his videos and testimonials made up my mind right there. Without a doubt, that was my choice. I submitted my MRIs and within two days I did my virtual consultation with you, and 10 days later I’m here. And it’s amazing. I had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor in Charlottesville and that was February the second. Just for a consultation and who knows how long it would have gone after that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Years, yes. Well, the problem is unfortunately the vast majority of doctors treating back pain don’t know how to cure it. They just don’t. And if I had to put a number on it, I’d say 99% do not know how to cure back pain. It really comes down to two things: you have to make the right diagnosis. Where is the pain coming from? Most doctors really don’t even know it comes from the disc. And that’s where it comes from about 90% of the time. Then the second problem is knowing how to treat it. And the treatment that works the only treatment that works is surgery on the herniation. Really. And there are two surgeries that work: fusion and the Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. I’ve done fusions for years. I’ve cured people’s back pain with spinal fusions. But that’s a big, bloody, messy surgery with screws, rods, cages, long recovery. You’re on opioid painkillers for months. Three, six months just taking painkillers just getting over the pain from the surgery, not from the back pain being from the surgery. So when we started doing the laser surgery, people weren’t having any back pain afterwards. They have just a little discomfort for one night. We realized they didn’t even need the opioids anymore. So our laser patients don’t get any painkillers except Tylenol and usually one or two Robaxin. So, you did it. You happy you did it?
Patient: I’m very happy.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yeah. And you can see in the surgery that we did we got into your discs. We used the laser to clean up those tears at L4-5 and L5-S1. Surgery went really well for you. We didn’t have any problems. It was just a tiny Band-Aid incision on your back. And that’s why you went home an hour later and that’s why you’re here today. Ready to go home. Where are you guys heading?
Patient: Back to Virginia this afternoon driving. No, I’m fine. Playing golf out of Orlando.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Awesome. Anything you want to say to your friends and family and people you know out there?
Patient: Yes. Living in pain is hard. It’s not a way to live. And I recommend Dr. Deuk any day.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. You had faith and you’re going to be rewarded for that. Congratulations.
Patient: Thank you.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: All right. Good to see you.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute for two herniated lumbar discs at L4-5 and L5-S1. The source of five years of unpredictable back pain that had gone unaddressed by chiropractic care, spinal decompression, and an orthopedic doctor who compared surgery to a coin toss. As Dr. Deukmedjian explains, approximately 90% of chronic back pain originates from the disc, and the only treatments that actually cure it are fusion or the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® with the laser approach providing a dramatically safer, faster, and less painful alternative requiring only Tylenol and a muscle relaxer post-operatively rather than months of opioid pain management. The entire process from MRI submission to virtual consultation to completed surgery. Took just 10 days, compared to the months-long wait this patient was facing through conventional channels. The surgery was completed through a tiny Band-Aid incision, the patient went home within an hour, slept flat in a bed for the first time in two months, and was heading to play golf in Orlando the following morning. Patients are encouraged to submit their MRI for a complimentary MRI review and virtual consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian at Deuk Spine Institute.