Summary
A race car driver from Ohio had been battling progressively worsening lower back and leg pain for five to six years, reaching the point where sneezing could bring him to his knees and 24/7 pain had forced him to cut his golf game nearly in half and carefully calculate every physical movement. Despite trying chiropractic care, traction therapy, and coming close to injections, nothing provided lasting relief and the fusion surgeries he had watched friends endure kept him searching for a better option. After submitting his MRI for review, completing a Zoom consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian, and happening to be in Florida for business, he was seen for a consult and scheduled for surgery within about a month. Less than 24 hours after his Deuk Laser Disc Repair®, he was completely pain-free, on no medication, and ready to get back to golf, racing, and living without fear.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Good morning. It’s February 26th, 2025. I’m Dr. Deukmedjian and I’m here with one of my patients who traveled from Ohio. He does many things in life. One of them is racing cars, similar to my son’s passion. You came from Ohio and had the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® done on your disc, and that was done less than 24 hours ago. How do you feel?
Patient: I feel great. First time in a long time I haven’t had pain just getting up and walking, or just sitting even. So yeah.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: It was hard for you to believe that the pain was gone, right?
Patient: I still felt there might be some numbing agent in there — something that was going on. But yeah, I don’t have the pain I’ve had for years.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: We don’t have any numbing agent. You didn’t take any pain meds this morning. The anesthetic wore off yesterday. What you’re experiencing right now is real pain relief. This is the first time in how many years that you don’t have back pain and leg pain?
Patient: It started about five, six years ago — starting to get it, and then it just kept getting worse and worse. Where it sometimes takes me to my knees if I do something wrong, or move the wrong way, or sneeze. Even at once it was 24/7 — I was in pain 24/7.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You had back pain — tell me about how the back pain affected your life, your quality of life.
Patient: I had to think about everything I did. As you said, in the race car it was actually somewhat therapeutic — that I could sit in the car, be strapped in, and I didn’t have the pain. Also when I’m in the car, my mind shuts down everything and I’m just concentrating on the racing. Sitting at home, I’m always constantly twisting and moving because the pain would start to get intense for a little while if I was not in the right position, and I’d twist trying to get back to the right position. Out golfing — I used to play a lot of golf — in the last year I think I played just over 20 rounds because I didn’t enjoy going out and playing. That’s when I would take a couple pain meds to play the round, to go out with some friends and have some fun, but it just wasn’t enjoyable. So I’m looking forward to actually getting out and enjoying golf again.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And what other treatments did you try that did not work for you?
Patient: Well, I’ve done a lot of chiropractic work. I’ve been doing a traction table. Trying to get some traction to help. But none of that stuff actually helped. It would lessen the pain when it happened and probably give me a little bit of relief and still be in pain, but a little bit less than what it was for a while. But having to go in a couple times a week and get adjusted and get therapy
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Did you ever do shots or consider fusion surgery or another invasive surgery?
Patient: I came real close to doing some shots and I decided to go against it because I know how they wear off after four, six, eight months — whatever that time frame would be — much sooner than that, sometimes a few weeks. So I thought that was sort of futile to do the shots. And I have some friends that have had surgery — they’re a year in and still before they even come close to getting back to somewhat normal. And even after that, they aren’t — it’s still another year before they’re really back. From the cutting of the muscles to go into the body to do what they’re doing, I’m sure they’re still in pain.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Send them to us and we’ll take care of them.
Patient: I’ve got a list of a couple people that are going to be coming to see you. One’s a young guy — I don’t want him going through that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Everyone I ever knew in back pain that had surgery ended up getting surgery again. Not you — because you had the Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. And you can see during the surgery that we were inside your tear of your disc. You can see the tear in the back of the disc, you can see the blue herniation, and we used the laser to clean it. It went perfect. So you’re going to heal up beautifully — your surgery went perfect. What’s life going to be like for you now that your back pain is gone?
Patient: Hopefully just get back to normal. Not having the mindset of what am I going to do that’s going to affect my back, and what am I going to have to do afterward. Not living in fear — because that’s what I’ve been living in. Fear. Once I know I’ve got six, eight, ten months in and I know I’m healthy — it’ll be life-changing. Really.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Not having to live in fear is life-changing. Well, anything you want to say to your family and friends out there?
Patient: Well, surgery was about 18 hours ago and I feel great. I think it’s a heck of a procedure, and that’s why I traveled from Ohio to come down here for this.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you’re not on any medication right now — no medicines at all. So you’re feeling great because we took away your pain.
Patient: Definitely. Well worth it. And I would suggest anyone to look into it if they’re thinking about back pain and have heard horror stories from friends that have had back surgeries — give them a call. It started out with I sent my disc images down here, they took a look at it, we had a Zoom call —
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Zoom call, yes.
Patient: Did that — and I happened to be down here traveling for business and they got me in for a consult. That was just about a month ago, and I scheduled surgery, and now I’m going home pain-free.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And now you’re ready to get back to racing. Safe travels.
Patient: I’ll lose every time — but all right!
The Better Way: Deuk Laser Disc Repair®
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute for a herniated lumbar disc causing five to six years of progressive lower back and leg pain that had failed to respond to chiropractic care and traction therapy. During surgery, Dr. Deukmedjian identified the annular tear and blue herniation and used the laser to clean it out completely — with no muscle cutting, no hospitalization, and no narcotic pain medication required post-operatively. The entire process from MRI review to virtual Zoom consultation to completed surgery took approximately one month, with the patient returning home pain-free less than 24 hours after the outpatient procedure. The Deuk Laser Disc Repair® allows the disc to heal fully over nine months, providing permanent relief without the risks and lengthy recovery associated with traditional open back surgery or spinal fusion.