Non-Surgical Spinal De-compression is a revo-lutionary new technol-ogy used to treat disc injuries in the neck

and in the lower back. This safe, drug-free treatment works by gen-tly lengthening and releasing the spine, creating negative pressures within the spinal discs. This rever-sal of pressure creates a vacuum e! ect within the disc space, and helps to pull the bulging disc ma-terial back into place, taking pres-sure o! pinched nerves and sur-rounding soft tissue. Lasting results for chronic back and neck pain have been achieved with this innovative new technology.

If you su! er from long-standing back or neck pain, including pain that radiates into your leg, you are probably a candidate for the ther-apy. An examination, history, and review of diagnostic imaging will be necessary prior to starting care. A short trial session of Spinal De-compression Therapy, usually 10 minutes, is also performed to make sure the patient is comfort-able with the equipment. This is done to ensure that this treatment is right for the patient. There are very few patients who will not be able to undergo Spinal Decom-pression Therapy, including cases of severe osteoporosis, certain types of spinal fusion surgeries, rheumatoid arthritis and pregnan-cy.

Non-Surgical Spinal Decom-pression is very e! ective at treat-ing bulging discs, herniated discs, pinched nerves, sciatica, radiating

arm pain, degenerative disc dis-ease, leg pain and facet syn-dromes. Proper patient screening is imperative and only the best candidates are accepted for care. The average treatment times are between 15 to 20 minutes each session over the course of several weeks. During treatment, most patients experience a gentle stretch in the low back or neck.

Some patients may experience light side effects such as mild muscular soreness during treat-ment. The sensation would be similar to what a person might ex-perience at the onset of a new ex-ercise regimen. However, most patients " nd this therapy quite comfortable and relaxing and tend to fall asleep during their session.

Additional therapies to spinal decompression may include elec-trical muscle stimulation and cold therapy. Exercise and nutritional programmes may also be pre-scribed to support the bene" ts of spinal decompression therapy and improve patient outcome.

Patient diagnosis and examination

A complete history of the pa-tient is for examination and diag-nosis. A thorough physical exami-nation of the neck and back includes range of motion testing, as well as palpation and inspection of the spine. A thorough neuro-logic examination is also per-formed to determine the main ar-eas of muscle weakness or neurological dysfunction, and this can help narrow down the a! ected

nerve roots or the area of the spi-nal column that may have sus-tained injury. Additional special-ised tests are also performed to determine the extent of nerve root irritability.

When a physician does the nec-essary testing to assess motor strength, re# exes and sensory dis-tribution, he can then isolate ex-actly which nerve root is being af-fected.

Knowing when surgery is required

Surgery tends to be the choice of the patient. Most patients de-cide to look into surgery when the pain is so bad that it a! ects their lifestyle, hobbies and ability to cope with people. This is also a last option for many people when ev-erything else has failed. Surgery is generally a patient’s only option when it is a life or death situation (trauma or cancer), nerve damage or impending nerve damage due to progression of problems and de-formities.

To visit or not to visit The " rst contact for the patient

should be their doctor or physi-cian. The general practitioner should be able to take care of a ma-jority of the problems such as physical therapy, medication and recommended exercises. Once the pain becomes chronic or the pa-tient is diagnosed with Sciatica, their doctor should refer them to a spine specialist.

Non-surgical spinal decompression is ideal for those with constant neck pain and backaches

Therapy for stress-free days

A complete history of

the patient is for examination and diagnosis. A thorough physical examination of the neck and back includes range of motion testing, as well as palpation and inspection of the spine

» TURN TO NEXT PAGE

KHALEEJ TIMES / ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

CENTRES FOR SPINE CARE & TREATMENT KHALEEJ TIMES / ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

Latha Krishnan

Atlas Spinal Center, based in Dubai Healthcare City, has intro-duced to the UAE, an innovative American technology for curing spinal related ailments using a non-invasive and painless tech-nique. The centre is able to treat patients su! ering from chronic migraines, neck pain and back pain using a percussion sound waves-based treatment that has been in use for 40 years in the US.

Its FDA-approved treatment tries to treat the cause of the prob-lems. “If a person is su! ering from chronic pain such as in the neck or back, or su! ering from migraines and headaches, we always look to the spine " rst. Rather than seek-ing to only mask the symptoms with pain pills and medicines, we examine the spine and neck to " nd the source of the problem,” says Dr Katie Gross.

Years of clinical research in the Atlas Orthogonal treatment have highlighted the signi" cance of a

disrupted nervous system as being the source of many ailments. The central nervous system is analo-gous to an information superhigh-way. The brain communicates and controls the rest of the body through the nervous system that runs through the spinal column. Any disruption in this intricate network can lead to various symp-toms as the nervous system con-trols everything in the body. When the spinal column is misaligned, it can put pressure on the brain stem

and spinal nerves leading to vari-ous painful symptoms. The Atlas Spinal Center’s ‘Atlas Orthogonal’ treatment focuses on restoring the natural alignment of the spine and relieving the pressure on the spi-nal nerves.

The centre has been very well received in the UAE since its open-ing in September 2011. “We’ve already treated hundreds of pa-tients since our opening. Our pa-tients come from a diverse back-ground including UAE nationals and expatriates and even have had several patients flying in from other GCC countries, India, Paki-stan, Africa and the UK. We try to put up as many testimonials as we can on our facebook page,” adds Dr Gross.

“Our centre is committed to providing the best overall patient experience. We have invested in the best medical technology, re-cruited the most experienced and quali" ed doctors from the US, and have a strong focus on providing the best service to our patients. And as a way to demonstrate our commitment to the local commu-nity, we will extend a free consul-tation to the readers of Khaleej Times during this month.”

Atlas Spinal Center is o! ering a Free Consultation to readers of Khaleej Times. Call 04-451 8877 now for your appointment.

The American Spine Center, orig-inating from its primary Center of Excellence in Birmingham, Ala-bama, US, and concentrating in research and treatment of spine pathologies through its own unique non-surgical procedures, is now established in Dubai Healthcare City.

The centre provides IDD (Inter-vertebral Di! erential Dynamics) therapy, a cutting edge non-surgi-cal computer-driven technology providing decompression therapy to the spine and relieving patients of spine diseases such as disc her-nia, bulging disc, disc compres-sion and acute or chronic condi-tions of the spine with proven excellent results.

“We have been here for less than a year but our comprehensive treatment and IDD therapy has been saving many patients from surgery. More than 500 patients have consulted us in this short pe-riod and about a third of them have undergone IDD therapy achieving 70 to 75 per cent good results,” informs Dr Hassan Jab-bar Shaikh, Consultant Pain Med-icine at the American Spine Cen-ter in Dubai.

The Accu-SPINA state-of-the-

art equipment used for IDD ther-apy provides a computer-directed, robotic approach to the rehabilita-tion of spine dysfunction and can be programmed to target each pa-tient’s speci" c medical condition and adjusted according to the healing response. The IDD proto-col usually consists of 12 to 16 treatment sessions over a two-month period followed by mainte-nance treatment sessions for four more months.

“The treatment is also aug-mented by pain management techniques such as physiotherapy, injections and medication that trained and licenced consultants, medical practitioners, physiother-apists, and nursing sta! adminis-ter at the centre,” adds Dr Shaikh, who has over two decades experi-ence as a consultant in pain medi-cine in the UK and in Dubai since 2008.

Pain relief for spine diseases through non-surgical procedures is surely gaining in popularity here and the American Spine Center is at the forefront of the movement. Also being the " rst centre of its type in the region combining con-sultancy, service and comprehen-sive pain management and thera-py, and proving successful, the centre is awarding its franchises all over the Middle East and Le-vant regions. A new centre will begin providing its services in Jed-dah immediately and more are coming up in Abu Dhabi and other Gulf cities. Several smaller clinics around the UAE are also in the o! -ing.

— Latha Krishnan

AMERICAN SPINE CENTER

Non-surgical treatment protocols for spine diseasesCutting edge therapy at the American Spine Center relieves spine diseases with 70 to 75 per cent success

ATLAS SPINAL CENTER

Safe and painless careAtlas Spinal Center looks directly into the root of the problem for pain relief

Dr Katie Gross

A neurosurgeon or an orthopaedic spine surgeon?

Both specialties receive basic surgical spine training and are quali" ed to perform spine surgery. The di! erence is that orthopaedic surgeons complete a postgraduate residency training programme of the surgical treatment of muscu-loskeletal disorders while neuro-surgeons complete training in neurological disorders. With the advancement of technology, most spine surgeons practicing today typically need additional training, such as a fellowship, that allows the surgeon to perform unique and technically advanced spine operations, more often than a sur-geon receiving basic orthopaedic or neurosurgical training.

Recovery after surgeryThe sooner the patient is out of

bed, the less de-conditioned they will be. An aggressive rehabilita-tion programme, such as a pool exercise programme where grav-ity is removed is assigned to pa-tients till they are able to tolerate the exercises. Technology has ad-vanced enough that spine surgery has now become minimally inva-sive. This gets patients back to their regular lives faster and better than traditional surgery.

Paralysis after surgery may exist but it is exceedingly rare and very unlikely. Proper communication with the doctor about potential problems during surgery will get you better tuned into the bene" ts and risks.

Choosing the right medical expert

If you have a non-surgical prob-lem, it is best to " rst consult your primary physician or non-surgical spine specialist. This is because they will be able to provide more non-surgical tools and alternatives to surgery to help you recover. If you have a more serious and sur-gical problem, it is best to consult a surgeon " rst rather than choos-

ing a pain management specialist or chiropractor.

The decision to pick one spine surgeon over another should be

based on their training, expertise, knowledge of technological ad-vancements, ability to perform the operation that you are going to have, whether they are board cer-ti" ed and your compatibility with the surgeon’s personality. Your surgeon should be someone you are able to talk to with ease, and understands your needs and prob-lems because you will be seeing them post operation for o$ ce vis-its and check-ups. Also, keep in mind that you should be able to speak to the surgeon prior to the surgery and are not being screened by a nurse practitioner.

» CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

If you have a non-surgical

problem, it is best to !irst consult your primary physician or non-surgical spine specialist

Latha Krishnan

Back pain assails most of us, al-beit in di! erent degrees, at some point in our lives. But for some of us it can become chronic and de-bilitating, and freedom from such pain is only too welcome. It is this freedom from pain that Wooridul Spine Centre in Dubai assures its patients through its pioneering and advanced treatment of Mini-mally Invasive Spinal Surgery (MISS).

Wooridul, which in Korean means “ours or altogether” was set up in Korea in 1982 as a small clinic and grew to become the now world famous JCI-accredited Wooridul Spine Hospital (WSH) in Seoul. Right from the beginning Sang-Ho Lee, Founder and Chair-man of Wooridul Hospital, fo-cused on spine care through MISS, that involves small incisions through which an endoscope is introduced and the procedure done precisely. He also founded an academic society for MISS, which has gained popularity.

“With MISS, Wooridul has min-imised the impact of undergoing surgery as well as shortened re-covery time after surgery. The phi-losophy propounded by our founder, is never to harm but cure the patient and to conduct surgery without touching the normal healthy tissue and we can do that through MISS. Here at Wooridul, we provide total care from the be-ginning of a spine complaint right from diagnosis to physiotherapy, pain management, MISS and post operative physiotherapy, until the patient is completely recovered and free of pain. And I am very happy that we are getting very positive feedback from patients in the UAE. Many of our patients come to us recommended by oth-er patients,” informs Dr Chan Shik Shim, Medical Director and

Consultant Neurosurgeon of Wooridul Spine Centre in Dubai.

Dr Shim came to Dubai expect-ing more lumbar problems with patients in the UAE but now " nds there are many with cervical prob-lems too. He feels that obesity and sedentary lifestyles of patients here could be responsible for this. He has also treated quite a few pa-tients who have had surgery two or three times and are still su! er-ing from pain. He explains, “Revi-sion surgery that I do here is about 20 per cent, which is much higher than in Korea.”

Getting such e! ective, techno-logically advanced and interna-tionally accepted care right here in the UAE is a blessing to many patients. This came about due to the partnership between Mubada-la Healthcare, a business unit of Mubadala Development Compa-ny set up to bring world-class clin-

ical expertise to the UAE and re-duce the need for UAE nationals and residents to travel abroad for treatment, and Wooridul Spine Hospital. While Wooridul Spine Centre, an outpatient facility opened in Dubai in February 2011, the # agship hospital in the region will open in Arzanah Medical Complex in Abu Dhabi later this year.

“Mubadala wanted the excel-lence of Wooridul replicated in the UAE and our partnership with them arose from that,” elaborates Dr Shim. “Together Mubadala and Wooridul intend to attract pa-tients from all the Gulf countries nearby, as they too need good spine care.”

Wooridul has already expanded its services with centres in Shang-hai and Jakarta and will shortly open two Spine Centres in Turkey at Istanbul and Ankara.

KHALEEJ TIMES / ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT CENTRES FOR SPINE CARE & TREATMENT

Latha Krishnan

Premier neuroscience healthcare provider Neuro Spinal Hospital (NSH) in Jumeirah, Dubai, is a world-class, 40-bed neurosurgi-cal, neurological, spinal and ortho-paedic specialist facility with dedi-cated, expert physicians, therapists and surgeons using the most ad-vanced equipment, technology and evidence-based techniques.

In addition to its services rang-ing across every aspect of neuro-science, NSH organises confer-ences and seminars on spine and joint treatments for neuroscience professionals at various venues and times throughout the year. Re-cently NSH successfully held the Dubai Spine Conference in col-laboration with the Emirates Neu-roscience Society, Gulf Neurosur-gical Society and the PAN Arab Neurosurgical Society for the 13th

time at Ra% es Dubai Hotel. Dubai Spine Conference is a

unique and important medical conference held annually in order to present the latest surgical tech-niques, research, and manage-ment strategies in neurology and spinal care. The three-day confer-ence covered Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (MISS) comprehen-sively including debates on the ef-" cacy of the technique as opposed to traditional surgery, treatment and surgery of traumatic spine and peripheral nerve surgery.

“This year we have practical ses-sions before and after the confer-ence for neurosurgeons, on MISS and surgery of the Peripheral Nerve – Upper Extremity. Interna-tional faculty demonstrate the pro-cedures, which are very much sought after in the Middle East re-gion,” explains Dr Abdul Karim

Msaddi, Medical Director of NSH, which prides itself on being at the forefront of bringing the latest technology of treatment to the re-gion.

“We were the " rst to introduce the Brain Suite, the ability to scan the brain through high tesla func-tional MRI during a surgical proce-dure. We also have one of three O-arm Surgical Imaging System in the UAE, which provides real-time, intra-operative imaging of a pa-tient’s anatomy with high quality images and a large " eld-of-view in both two and three dimensions and especially useful during MISS. Within a couple of months we will get the Intra-operative CT Scan, which will be the " rst one outside the US and increases the accuracy of surgery and ensures maximum safety of the patient,” says Dr Msaddi.

Last year, NSH, with the valu-able support of the European Spine Society, brought to the UAE, the European Spine Course Diploma, consisting of " ve modules to aug-ment the quali" cations of estab-lished spine surgeons. About 55 surgeons attending the Dubai Spine Conference signed up for the course, which looks set to be yet another successful undertak-ing from NSH, already part of various training programmes for spine surgeons in the region.

NEURO SPINAL HOSPITAL

WOORIDUL SPINE CENTRE

Specialist neuroscience healthcare services

Providing freedom from back pain

Neuro Spinal Hospital provides state-of-the-art facilities for spine and joint treatment for patients and hosts conferences for professionals in the !ield

JCI-accredited Wooridul Spine Hospital is planning to launch a !lagship hospital in Abu Dhabi later this year

We were the !irst to

introduce the Brain Suite, the ability to scan the brain through high tesla functional MRI during a surgical procedure

Dr Abdul Karim Msaddi

Here at Wooridul, we

provide total care from the beginning of a spine complaint right from diagnosis to physiotherapy, pain management, MISS and post operative physiotherapy, until the patient is completely recovered and free of pain. And I am very happy that we are getting very positive feedback from patients in the UAE

Dr Chan Shik Shim

Dr Chan Shik Shim

Khalid Ahmed Sheikh Mubarak, Deputy Director General of the DHA, inaugurates the 13th Dubai Spine Conference