Deuk Laser Disc Repair® for Pinched Nerve in Neck Treatment: Endoscopic Solutions

Arm symptoms result from nerve root irritation, often related to disc herniation or bone spurs pressing against the nerve. These symptoms follow specific patterns that help identify the involved nerve root.

• Arm Pain: Sudden, shooting, or electric-like pain that radiates from your neck through your shoulder and into your arm, sometimes reaching your fingers
• Weakness: Difficulty lifting your arm, gripping objects, or performing previously manageable tasks
• Numbness and Tingling: Loss of sensation or pins-and-needles feeling in specific fingers, following nerve pathways called dermatomes
• Arm Fatigue: Unusual tiredness in your arm when performing simple tasks

Pinched nerves never cause neck pain. That pain you feel in your neck itself comes from different structures.

• Disc Injuries: Tears in the posterior annulus fibrosus with herniated nucleus pulposus, causing inflammation
• Facet Joint Problems: Facet joint capsule tears and arthritis in the small weight-bearing joints behind your discs

Many patients have both a disc injury causing neck pain and nerve compression causing arm symptoms from the same herniated disc. The disc injury creates inflammation in the posterior annular tear, causing localized neck pain. If that same disc herniates far enough to contact a nerve root, it also creates the radicular arm symptoms. These are two separate problems requiring different evaluation and treatment, even though they originate from the same damaged disc.

The discs in your cervical spine consist of two key components.

• Annulus Fibrosus: Tough outer layer that can develop tears, most commonly in the posterior (back) portion
• Nucleus Pulposus: Gel-like center that can herniate through tears in the annulus

When nucleus pulposus material herniates through these tears, it triggers chronic inflammation. The outer annulus fibrosus and posterior longitudinal ligament contain pain-sensitive nerve fibers. When these structures experience ongoing inflammation from herniated material stuck in the tear, they generate the neck pain you feel.

This is a structural problem with permanent consequences.

• Physical defect persists: The tear exists as a structural defect in the disc that does not close on its own
• Ongoing inflammation: Herniated material trapped in the tear continues causing inflammation indefinitely
• Medication limitations: Anti-inflammatory medications reduce inflammation temporarily, but cannot remove the herniated material
• Therapy limitations: Physical therapy cannot repair annular tears or extract the herniation
• Neoinnervation: Small pain nerve fibers grow into the inflamed tissue over time, increasing pain signals
• Self-perpetuating cycle: Once an annular tear becomes chronic, the inflammatory process prevents natural healing

Facet joint arthritis and facet capsule tears represent similar permanent structural damage. Once cartilage degenerates or the joint capsule tears, conservative treatments cannot reverse the damage.

• Ice: Reduces inflammation temporarily, providing short-term pain relief
• Heat: Relaxes muscles that tighten in response to pain
• OTC Medications: Anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen or naproxen reduce inflammation systemically
• Proper Positioning: Avoiding positions that aggravate symptoms minimizes flare-ups
• Gentle Exercise: Range of motion exercises maintain mobility and prevent stiffness
• Sleep Support: Proper pillow positioning can reduce nighttime symptoms

• Confirm Your Diagnosis: Without imaging, you don't know which disc is herniated, how severe the herniation is, or whether significant facet arthritis exists
• Repair Annular Tears: No home treatment can repair tears in the annulus fibrosus
• Remove Herniated Material: The nucleus pulposus, causing inflammation, remains trapped in the tear
• Reverse Arthritis: Facet joint degeneration persists regardless of home care
• Provide Lasting Relief: When you stop treatments, inflammation returns because the structural problem persists

This distinction between symptom relief and problem resolution is critical. Many patients spend months or years cycling through home remedies, experiencing temporary improvements followed by symptom return, never addressing the underlying structural issues that require definitive treatment.

Cannot Repair Annular Tears: No amount of stretching, strengthening, or manual therapy can repair a tear in the annulus fibrosus or remove herniated nucleus pulposus material

Cannot Reverse Arthritis: Once cartilage in facet joints has degenerated, exercises and adjustments cannot restore it

Cannot Address Structural Damage: The physical defect in the disc persists regardless of how much therapy you complete

May Worsen Herniation: Chiropractic manipulation of a neck with significant disc herniation can potentially worsen the problem or create new injuries

Physical therapy can help maintain mobility, strengthen supporting muscles, and improve posture in cases where minimal structural damage exists. For patients with minor disc bulges without significant annular tears, PT might provide adequate symptom management. Conservative care is appropriate for short-term or mild symptoms in select cases where structural damage is limited.

The problem is that most patients pursuing PT or chiropractic care for chronic neck pain have significant structural problems that these treatments cannot address. They experience temporary relief when muscles relax or when anti-inflammatory effects from movement reduce symptoms, but the underlying disc injury or facet arthritis remains untreated.

The posterior annular tear with herniated material causing chronic inflammation is a mechanical problem that requires a mechanical solution. The herniated material must be removed, and the inflammatory tissue in the tear must be debrided to allow natural healing. Conservative treatments work on the principle that the body can heal itself given the right conditions, but with chronic disc injuries where inflammation has persisted for months or years, natural healing will not occur without directly addressing the structural problem.

• Progressive Weakness: Increasing difficulty lifting your arm, gripping objects, or performing previously manageable tasks (may indicate nerve compression causing permanent damage)
• Symptoms Lasting 2+ Weeks: Ongoing symptoms indicate a structural problem requiring definitive diagnosis and treatment planning
• Severe Pain: Pain that prevents you from performing daily activities, working, or sleeping indicates structural damage that conservative care cannot adequately address
• Inability to Find Relief: Constant pain despite medication suggests a significant disc herniation or facet injury requiring intervention

MRI imaging is necessary for identifying structural problems, but it is insufficient on its own for accurate diagnosis. Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Jensen et al. found that 64% of people without any symptoms have disc abnormalities visible on MRI. This high prevalence of asymptomatic findings means many of the abnormalities on your MRI might not be causing your symptoms at all.

Proper diagnosis requires correlation between imaging findings, your specific symptoms, and physical examination results. Without this correlation, treatment decisions may target the wrong structures entirely.

For the approximately 85% of chronic neck pain cases that originate from disc injuries, based on my clinical experience, the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® provides targeted treatment.

• Minimal Access: 4mm incision to access the injured disc through specialized endoscopic instruments
• Direct Treatment: Laser energy and specialized surgical tools remove inflammatory tissue from the posterior annular tear
• Natural Healing: Careful debridement creates conditions for the tear to heal naturally over 9-12 months
• Dual Benefit: Addresses both neck pain from disc injury AND arm symptoms from nerve compression in a single procedure
• Quick Recovery: Approximately 20 minutes per disc, patients walk within an hour

In my clinical experience with over 2,744 Deuk Laser Disc Repair® procedures:

• 99% pain relief for treated pain sources
• 0.01% complication rate with zero major complications
• Immediate symptom reduction as inflammatory tissue is removed
• No hardware or implants required for lasting results

When facet joint arthritis contributes to neck pain:

• 30-minute outpatient procedure using plasma energy
• Permanently ablates pain nerves inside the affected joints
• Lasting relief without ongoing medication, based on my clinical experience with over 1,000 procedures
• Minimal side effects: Temporary numbness in the skin over the treated area, resolving within months