The Healthcare sector has seen major advancements by giving world-class medical facilities all across the globe benefitting patients and helping them recover faster. Most people have adopted a balanced and healthy lifestyle while some struggle between work-life balance. Continuous sitting and over-exertion make the body lethargic and can create serious repercussions in the future.
A desk or sitting job results in lower back pain and for the elderly, this pain can lead to difficulty in standing and hamper carrying out regular activities. The ultimate solution for elderly people is replacement surgery.
Several surgical techniques are available for the patients to get rid of the lower back pain and out of all disc replacement surgery in Singapore has provided pain relief and improved the ability of functioning. The disc replacement is recommended for those patients who have been tolerating the pain for more than six months. Doctors carry out tests including, MRI, CT scans, and X-Rays to determine the root cause of the pain before suggesting what needs to be done.
The procedure of artificial disk replacement involves the removal of the damaged disk and inserting an artificial disk between the bones. Artificial disk replacement is not the ultimate solution for all the patients dealing with lower back pain, only those that have back pain due to one or more intervertebral disks and those who are not obese. A disk replacement surgery might take 2 to 3 hours.
The disk used in the surgery has different designs and is made of metal or plastic. Such surgeries are carried out by experienced doctors and are quite expensive. Starting from the basic tests, surgery itself, and post-surgery recovery, everything is covered in the total cost.
Those with medical insurance or Mediclaim policy can get their amounts reimbursed and manage the expenses. The disc replacement surgery cost in Singapore involves bills for other services involving:
- Post-surgery doctor visits.
- Specialized diet plans for patients.
- Physiotherapy and exercise sessions.
- Medicines and other utilities.
All these expenses become easy to manage with the help of medical insurance and before the medical procedure patients can take a rough estimate of the surgery and budgeting would help them to paint a financial picture. Patients should always take detailed billing of every service they have availed for including meals, medicine, doctor visits, etc. Before undergoing any surgery, patients should take advice and research for the best hospitals and ensure the best hygiene standards are met.
Post-surgery doctors advise complete rest and restrict from carrying out activities involving strength work. Nurses and physicians assist in performing basic stretching exercises and walking. The results of disc replacement vary from person to person, for some the pain might improve while some would still feel mild pain in the back. It is also important for every patient undergoing surgery to ask for realistic expectations of pain relief from the doctors.
With new technology coming up and studies being carried out, artificial disk replacement has shown a positive result in most of the population and patients have felt the difference post-surgery.