Spine Surgeons
Laser Spine Surgery at LSI is Superior to Other Treatments for Neck and Back Pain
If you’re suffering with back or neck pain and it’s progressed to the point where you need a surgical solution, you should consider laser spine surgery at Laser Spine Institute. The procedures we offer can treat a wide variety of spinal conditions, including bone spurs in the neck, pinched nerves, sciatica, herniated discs, and more, and they do it less invasively than traditional open-back surgery by using endoscopic techniques and tools. The result is decreased or eliminated back or neck pain, with less scar tissue, a lower risk of infection, and a quicker recovery time than traditional surgery. Laser spine surgery at LSI is also an outpatient procedure, and it only requires local anesthesia and IV sedation.
Laser Spine Surgery at LSI May Be an Alternative for Those with Failed Back Surgery…
You may have suffered with back or neck pain for months or even years before your doctor recommended spine surgery. You patiently tried each of the treatments prescribed, including the spinal decompression, acupuncture, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications and steroid injections, but none of them offered lasting, effective relief. When your doctor finally said back surgery was probably the best solution, it may have seemed like the answer to your prayers: an end to the pain. But if after the hospitalization, physical therapy and months of painful recovery you still aren’t pain-free, there may be one more treatment to try: laser spine surgery at LSI. Depending on your particular situation, we may be able to use our advanced, endoscopic procedures to repair your failed back surgery and solve the problem once and for all.
Dr. James St. Louis: Founder and Chief Spinal Surgeon at Laser Spine Institute
A good spinal surgeon can make the difference between continued, chronic back and neck pain or a return to a pain-free life, and Dr. James St. Louis is one of the very best in the world. The founder and chief spinal surgeon at LSI, Dr. St. Louis is an expert on the endoscopic surgery we use on all of our patients, and he has truly perfected it since founding the institute in 2005. Before that he developed and owned the Pensacola Clinic Bone and Joint Center, as well as the Alabama Clinic Bone and Joint Center, and he also served as Medical Director of Health South in Pensacola, Florida and Chief of Surgery at Woodlawn Medical Center in Cullman, Alabama. He’s a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the University of Health Sciences, and he’s held a variety of other posts and positions while developing his skills as a spinal surgeon.
Find the Right Orthopedic Spine Surgeon for Your Back or Neck Pain at LSI
When you’re in extreme pain which is often the case when the spine is involved, it can be tempting to opt for surgery with the first orthopedic spine surgeon you lay eyes on. The pain is unbearable and you want it to stop as soon as possible. But at Laser Spine Institute, we urge you to do your research and find the best surgeon for your condition. And like thousands of others, you may find yours at LSI. We perform more than 400 surgeries a month and the majority of our patients come from other states to meet with an orthopedic spine surgeon here. Some even travel to us from other countries. They come from far and wide because we have earned a reputation for providing successful, minimally invasive surgeries that treat everything from ruptured discs and sciatica to foraminal stenosis and bone spurs. These surgeries are not only attractive in their own right, but they are also impressive when compared to traditional back or neck surgery, which requires hospitalization, general anesthesia, muscle damage, and months of recovery.
An LSI Spine Surgeon May Be Able to Relieve Your Back Pain Once and For All
When you suffer from sciatica, stenosis, a bulging disc, or another spinal condition, the pain can be excruciating. It can rob you of your ability to take your morning jog or even rest comfortably. This can result in desperation and the willingness to suffer through a traumatic surgery to get any relief. But at Laser Spine Institute, we’ve found a better way to ease your pain. We’ll match you up with a spine surgeon who uses advanced endoscopic methods to treat your condition without saddling you with months of painful recovery.
LSI’s Spine Surgeons are the Leaders in the Field of Endoscopic Spine Surgery
When it comes to surgery for relieving pain in the back and neck, endoscopic care is becoming more and more popular every year. But while other hospitals and surgical centers are just catching on, the spine surgeons at the Laser Spine Institute are ahead of the curve. Together these nine surgeons perform more than 400 surgeries a month, more than any other spine clinic in the world. Our chief surgeon and founder, Dr. James St. Louis has perfected endoscopic spine surgery over the years, and he trains each of the spine surgeons that come to work at LSI. The product of this dedication and experience is consistently successful results on a wide range of problems including herniated discs, bone spurs, sciatica, foraminal stenosis, pinched nerves, and more.
LSI’s Spine Surgeons Offer Procedures with Several Advantages Over Other Treatments
While spine surgeons in just about any American clinic or hospital are highly trained and educated, there are differences that you should consider before deciding to commit to an operation with one. Primarily, what type of surgery is their specialty. At the Laser Spine Institute, all of our spine surgeons are highly trained in a cutting edge endoscopic technique that was perfected by our founder and chief surgeon, Dr. James St. Louis. This type of surgery is growing in popularity as back pain sufferers around the world realize that it is safer and often more effective than traditional open-back surgery.
LSI’s Spine Surgeons Can Determine if You are a Candidate for Laser Surgery
If you suffer with back pain, chances are you’ve researched a litany of treatment options, and tried several under the direction of your doctor. But if conservative options such as physical therapy, spinal decompression, and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs haven’t offered relief, you may be considering back surgery. If that’s the case, then you may want to speak with one of the spine surgeons at Laser Spine Institute. They provide our patients with cutting edge, endoscopic procedures that ease back pain without most of the side effects and risks that sometimes come with traditional, open-back surgery, including a 4% chance of infection, months of recuperation, the need for general anesthesia, damage to muscle tissue, and more.
The LSI’s Spine Surgeons Are the Key to Our Revolutionary 5-Day Process
At LSI, we offer patients more than highly trained spine surgeons, unmatched patient care, and excellent results. We offer them an efficient five-day treatment that gets them on the road to a pain-free life in less than a week. This short process is possible thanks to the gentle, minimally-invasive procedures administered by our gifted spine surgeons. Their high level of skill keeps trauma to the body at a minimum and the result is a quick, comfortable recovery for nearly all of our patients. Our outpatient procedures are performed in one of our state-of-the-art surgery centers and require only a small incision. Unlike traditional surgery, laser-assisted surgery never requires our spine surgeons to cut through muscle. All of these factors lend themselves to the fast nature of our treatment.
The Spine Surgeons at Laser Spine Institute Are Experienced and Successful
If you’ve determined that laser spine surgery is right for you, the next task at hand is selecting a surgery center with spine surgeons who will offer you quality care. While there are many around the globe, few can say their medical staffs have the level of experience our orthopedic spine surgeons possess. That’s because the nine spine surgeons at LSI conduct more than 400 surgeries a month—the most of any facility in the world. All were educated at well-respected medical schools and they received intensive training in laser surgery from LSI founder and chief surgeon Dr. James St. Louis. Backed by this education and experience, the LSI surgical staff has perfected the process of laser spine surgery and is committed to offering world-class care. But don’t take our word for it. The results speak for themselves.
Top Spine Surgeons
Unfortunately the process of finding a spine surgeon is still fairly archaic. Because there is no real data base on who is a good spine surgeon or who isn’t, you are going to have to trust that your physician is referring you to the best spine surgeon possible.
Finding the Right Spine Surgeon for You
If you are suffering from back pain or neck pain you usually look to your family doctor or primary care physician first for medical attention. Unfortunately many patients end up needed to go a step further and require the services of a spine specialist.
Spine Surgeons
Today spine surgery can be performed by either a neurosurgeon or an orthopedic surgeon. There is an emerging field of “spine surgery” that incorporates both specialties. Although not currently the case, in the future, there may be a well-defined medical specialty of “spine specialists” defined by its own board certification.
Open Back Surgery
An open discectomy is performed under general anesthesia. The procedure takes about an hour or so, depending on the extent of the disc herniation, the size of the patient, and other factors. A discectomy is done with the patient lying face down, and the back pointing upwards.
Back Doctor Information
Managing your back pain can be difficult for many people. Along with general practitioners, there are many back doctors that have devoted the time to correcting more specific types of back and neck pain.