Summary
A Florida patient had been living with unpredictable, debilitating cervical facet joint pain that varied day to day, affected her shoulders and neck, prevented her from keeping up with housework, and confined her to bed during her worst flare ups. A five week episode that led her to discover Deuk Spine Institute while searching on her phone. Despite having MRI findings of degenerated discs, bulging discs, herniations, and stenosis, Dr. Deukmedjian correctly identified cervical facet joint syndrome. The second most common cause of neck pain as the true source of her symptoms, and none of the other findings required treatment. She underwent the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for the cervical facet joints, and when she woke from anesthesia the following day her neck pain was completely gone. She left feeling free for the first time in years. Ready to book vacations, do housework, and visit her children in the UK without fear of an attack.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Good morning. I’m Dr. Deukmedjian, CEO and founder at Deuk Spine Institute and Deuk Joint Institute. I’m here with a lovely patient who traveled all around the world. As a matter of fact, we were just talking about her travels with her husband. But she came here for neck pain. And it turned out she had neck pain coming from her facet joint. She has arthritis in the facet joints in her neck. Really mostly on the right side and we diagnosed her with cervical facet joint syndrome as the cause of her neck pain. Cervical facet joint syndrome is the second most common cause of neck pain, and it was her cause. She also had on the MRI degenerated discs, bulging discs, herniations, and stenosis but none of those needed to be treated because they were not causing her symptoms. So we diagnosed her with facet joint pain and she underwent the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for the cervical facets yesterday. You can see we went in and destroyed the pain nerves and that’s a permanent fix for her neck pain. Do you still have your neck pain today?
Patient: No. It’s gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Awesome. Still have some stiffness, which will take time to go away?
Patient: Just a little. Yeah.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: But the pain is gone. And how do you feel about that?
Patient: Fantastic. Yeah. I want to be able to go away. I felt I couldn’t. They said that this could happen at any time, you know. Now I feel free.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: When did you notice your pain was gone?
Patient: When I woke up yesterday. From the anesthesia.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yeah. How was the anesthesia for you?
Patient: That was amazing. I didn’t know anything. I just went into the operating room and the next thing I knew I was awake — and really awake. I didn’t feel like I’d had an anesthetic. Very happy about that as well.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, you have one of the best anesthesiologists in the world. Dr. Bernes was your anesthesiologist — he did a great job.
Patient: Yes, he did.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You happy with your experience?
Patient: Yes. Very, very.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: What was life like for you before you had your cervical Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®?
Patient: Well, I never knew how the pain was going to be. Some days were a lot worse than others and it was in different places. I couldn’t get on with my life. I couldn’t do housework and lots of things. It just affects everything, your shoulders, your neck. And it was not good. And now I feel happy.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Good. Well, you traveled from the other side of the state of Florida. Why did you choose Deuk Spine Institute? Why did you choose this surgery?
Patient: Because when I was having my worst attack ever and I was stuck in the house for five weeks — laid up on my back most of the time. I was just checking my phone constantly and I found you, and I thought, that’s for me.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Good. You liked the fact that it was minimally invasive?
Patient: Yes.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Just a four-millimeter incision. No bleeding, no hospital, just a quick recovery overnight. Well, anything you want to tell your fans out there?
Patient: I’m not very good at this.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: No, you’re doing great. You’re doing great.
Patient: I’m just the happiest person in the world, and I can’t wait to book vacations and things and not be thinking, oh, will I be having an attack? Will I be able to go? I want to go and see our kids that live in the UK, and I feel free to do it now.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Where do they live in the UK?
Patient: The Bristol area. Southwest.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Southwest. Okay. Congratulations. Enjoy life.
Patient: Thank you.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You’re welcome. All right. Let’s get you out of here.
The Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®
This patient underwent the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for cervical facet joint syndrome at Deuk Spine Institute — the second most common cause of neck pain and one that is frequently missed when MRI findings of disc degeneration, bulging, herniations, or stenosis distract from the true source. Dr. Deukmedjian’s precise diagnostic process identified the cervical facet joints as the sole cause of her symptoms, and none of the other MRI findings required treatment. The Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® permanently destroyed the pain nerves innervating the affected cervical facet joints through a four-millimeter incision — with no bleeding, no hospitalization, no narcotic pain medication, and complete neck pain relief achieved from the moment she woke from anesthesia. Patients with persistent, unpredictable neck pain that has not been accurately diagnosed or treated are encouraged to submit their MRI for a complimentary MRI review and virtual consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian at Deuk Spine Institute.