8-Month Follow-Up: Neck & Thumb Pain Gone with DPR® & DLDR®
Summary
Eight months after undergoing Deuk Laser Disc Repair® and Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®, a patient returns to Deuk Spine Institute to share his long-term results. Initially treated for neck pain and significant arm weakness—while avoiding an ACDF fusion—he explains how Dr. Deukmedjian correctly identified an underlying brachial plexus issue and set realistic expectations for a marathon-style recovery. Since surgery, his strength has dramatically improved, pain has been eliminated, and his quality of life restored. He also shares his experience as the first patient to undergo a Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for thumb arthritis, which successfully relieved his basal joint pain and restored normal function.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And good morning I'm Dr. Deukmedjian. I'm here with one of my lovely patients who came back to Florida to visit us after he underwent surgery with the DPR, Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®, and the DLDR®, right?
Patient: That's correct. We're going to talk about both.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: That was 8 months ago almost to the date, just a little bit past. He wants to share his story, so I'm going to let him talk.
Patient: I again, tell everybody that when you watch Dr. Deuk, he's The Real McCoy. He's very serious. He's in a very serious business. He wants to heal people and help people. He's very goal oriented. He demonstrates that and he and his employees are the same way. I was a very tough case, probably one of those tougher ones that you had. I remember the time he didn't believe me, but afterwards, I was. But he was very helpful. I had years of, I didn't have a lot of pain, and I was unique from the standpoint that I had a lot of arm weakness. Within minutes of doing our Zoom telehealth, Dr. Deuk says "You know, your MRI isn't bad, I treated a lot worse MRIs than you," he says, "but I don't treat the MRI, I treat the patient, but I think you have a brachial plexus issue, which is your nerves and your arm." It didn't really register with me and nor my people that were supporting me at home. Now that I've had the surgery done, guess what, Dr. Deuk you were correct. I have a brachial plexus issue. I mean before the surgery my hand grip was maybe 60 lb now it's 128 lb.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yeah, you almost broke my hand shaking it.
Patient: Yeah, I didn't want to break his hand because he needs to help more people with that hand. But I do have a lot of still issues in there and I am working hard with my physical therapy and what have you, and trying different things to improve it to keep moving and I still remember him saying to me, he says, "You know, this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint recovery. Going to take, I don't want you yelling at me in a year that you're not totally recovered." I'm making progress, I want to come and thank Dr. Deuk for doing that and I'm happy that I came here and on top of it. Then, Dr. Deuk, I baited him in one of his, during one of the end of one of his surgeries, when he was taking the questions and answers, when he was talking about his DPRs®. I asked him, "Did you ever do a DPR® on your thumb, on a basal joint?" And I could just see the light bulb going off in his head and he got a smile on his face like no, but, if you come down, I'll do it. And we did do it, and I'll have to say, being the first, I have a basal joint issue arthritis in the thumb. It's back to normal again, not a problem, mission accomplished.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So, you had the cervical surgery, but we also fixed your thumb with the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for the arthritis pain. And where did you guys come from to get the surgery?
Patient: Massachusetts, western part of Massachusetts.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: How did you hear about Deuk Spine Institute?
Patient: I heard about Deuk by just searching the web and looking. I originally diagnosed with my cervical issue by the local doctor who I have a lot of respect for and know a lot of people who've been through him and had surgeries by him. He basically said "It's an ACDF." And I just did not want metal in my neck. I went on a mission and I found Dr. Deuk here at the Deuk Spine. After watching more videos than he says it in the surgery, I've watched probably 20 or 30 live videos cervical surgeries, as well as, that many probably recorded because I really wanted to find out what I had in common with the people that he was working on and how they responded to the surgery.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Are you happy with your results?
Patient: Yes sir, 100%.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Anything else you want to tell the crowd?
Patient: Well, I do have one thing, and I mentioned to this in one of the telehealths that we did after surgery. That I have a new name for Dr. Deuk and if anybody would want to comment here it comes. Dr. Deuk is no longer considered Dr. Deuk. The new name for Dr. Deuk is Dr. Light Switch because he turns off the pain. I didn't have a lot of pain in my arm. I had a lot of pain in my thumb and the DPR® turned he turned off the pain I think this is no longer the Deuk Spine Institute it's the Light Switch Institute and this is Dr. Light Switch.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Thank you so much. So DPR® of the thumb. You're the first patient and it worked and we're very proud that it's working and very happy for you. Congratulations.
Patient: Thank you.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Come here my friend. Hey now go and enjoy life okay.
Patient: Let me squeeze your hand one more time man.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: There you go, oh yeah iron grip.
A Game-Changing Procedure
This patient underwent two groundbreaking procedures at Deuk Spine Institute. First, Deuk Laser Disc Repair® (DLDR) was performed on his cervical spine to address nerve compression causing severe arm weakness from brachial plexus involvement. The minimally invasive endoscopic procedure used a precision laser to repair disc damage through a tiny 4mm incision, avoiding metal hardware and fusion.
Additionally, he became the first patient to receive Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® (DPR) on a thumb basal joint to eliminate arthritis pain. DPR® uses precision plasma technology to treat joint inflammation and pain without surgery, hardware, or lengthy recovery. Both procedures are outpatient, require no hospitalization, and allow patients to experience immediate pain relief.
Eight months post-surgery, his hand grip strength more than doubled, and his thumb arthritis pain was completely eliminated, earning Dr. Deukmedjian the nickname "Dr. Light Switch" for his ability to turn off pain.