Thoracic Spine Pain
Thoracic spine pain is pain originating from the base of the neck to the lower back. The 3 most common causes of thoracic spine pain are herniated discs, facet joint arthritis and vertebral body fractures. To learn more about thoracic spine pain read more below.
Thoracic spine pain has two major (disc and facet joint injuries) and three minor causes (fracture, infection and tumors). Roughly 85% of chronic thoracic spine pain comes from disc injuries. Discogenic pain originates from inflammation within the posterior annular tear of an injured spinal disc. Disc injuries that can cause pain include disc bulge, disc herniation, slipped disc, disc protrusion, disc extrusion, disc prolapse, spondylosis and degenerative disc disease. Old trauma is the cause of most symptomatic disc injuries. Some disc injuries also cause pain to radiate around the ribs. Painful disc injuries have been underdiagnosed by most doctors who cannot identify the source of pain. Deuk Spine Institute was one of the first in the world to identify the injured disc as a major cause of spine pain. Deuk Spine Institute pioneered the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® to cure discogenic pain.
Thoracic Spine Discogenic Pain
The most common cause of back pain, neck pain and thoracic spine pain is an injured spinal disc. Thoracic spine disc injuries account for 85% of chronic thoracic spine pain. Discogenic pain is pain originating from the disc. It turns out annular tears can be very painful when they are inflamed. Remember how tender pimples can be? Redness, pain and swelling all come from inflammation, your bodies way of fighting off foreign invaders trying to enter your body. Only problem is that the disc is not a foreign invader but part of yourself. So why does your body’s inflammatory system attack the annular tear? To heal the tear. Problem is that the herniation is stuck there and will not go away. Your body sends the inflammatory system in to clean up the herniation. Unfortunately, all that happens is a lot of inflammation, pain and swelling which then puts pressure on the nearby nerve root causing radiculopathy.
What causes Thoracic Spine Discogenic Pain?
Thoracic Deuk Laser Disc Repair®
Removing the source of inflammation in the posterior annular tear, the interposed herniated nucleus pulposus, should eliminate annular inflammation and thoracic spine pain. Deuk Spine Institute was the first to prove this in 2008 when we discovered that laser energy applied to the posterior annular tear and interposed herniated nucleus pulposus cured back and neck pain completely, immediately and permanently in patients undergoing the Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. In this revolutionary new procedure, the Holmium YAG laser was used to surgically debride the inflamed edges of the painful posterior annular tear, remove interposed herniated nucleus pulposus and scar tissue stuck in the tear and shrink the annular tear so it would heal faster. Remarkably, the surgery worked.
How Deuk Laser Disc Repair® can cure Thoracic Spine Discogenic Pain?
Thoracic Spine Facetogenic Pain
While disc injuries are certainly the most common cause of chronic thoracic spine pain, the facet joint is second. Discogenic pain accounts for 85% of all chronic thoracic spine pain. Facetogenic pain arising from facet joint injuries and arthritis is responsible for 10%. Together disc and facet joint injuries account for over 95% of thoracic spine pain or dorsalgia. Like discogenic pain, facet joint pain comes from inflammation within the degenerated facet joint. Inflammation is the calling card of arthritis. Arthritis is the inevitable consequence of old joint injuries. Trauma from motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries and other forms of culturally constituted aggression ultimately lead to orthopedic injuries that manifest later in life as joint pain and stiffness. Spinal injuries early in life tend to lead to both disc and facet joint instability and pain.
To find out if you are a good candidate for one of our advanced treatments, please complete our Free MRI Review
What causes Thoracic Spine Facetogenic Pain ?
Thoracic Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®
Thoracic spine facet joint pain is best treated with a rhizotomy. Traditional RFA (Radio Frequency Ablation) does not work over 50% of the time and when it works the result is temporary. Most doctors quote 3-6 months of pain relief at best. Deuk Spine Institute founder, neurosurgeon Dr Ara Deukmedjian MD, pioneered a new technology to perform a permanent facet joint rhizotomy. This new procedure, called Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® has the ability to permanently eliminate facet joint pain immediately following the procedure. Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® is a safe and highly effective outpatient procedure that eliminates facetogenic pain.
To find out if you are a good candidate for one of our advanced treatments, please complete our Free MRI Review
How Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® can cure Thoracic Spine Facetogenic Pain ?
Accurately Diagnose the Cause of Chronic Back Pain
Deuk Spine Institute specializes in accurately diagnosing the sources of chronic back pain so you can learn exactly what is causing your back pain. Our Free MRI Review includes a videoconference where our spine specialist will virtually examine you and with the help of your MRI scan, diagnose your actual back “pain generators”. Pain generators are the specific joints, muscles and nerves causing your pain.