In this insightful episode of the Back Pain Talk podcast, host Dr. Tony Mork, MD a renowned endoscopic spinal surgeon, discusses the challenges and solutions related to annular tear surgery. He shares a real-life case study of a patient who suffered from chronic low back pain after a motor vehicle accident and was unable to find relief through conventional treatment methods like physical therapy and chiropractic care. Dr. Mork delves into the diagnostic process, explaining the use of MRI scans and CT discograms to identify annular tears. He highlights the importance of accurate diagnosis, espe ..read more

An episode about annular tear surgery and treatment options as well as a comprehensive guide on annular tears themselves. The episode begins by explaining that an annular tear is a condition where the ligament featuring a strong ring of cartilaginous fibers that connects your vertebrae to your discs is torn. The outer annulus fibrosus ring is chock-full of nerves, which means a tear is going to result in substantial pain if these nerves are damaged. Annular tears typically develop over time in the lumbar spine or lower back, which means the main cause is simply getting older. As we age, our b ..read more

Welcome to the Bulging Disc Symptoms and Disc Herniation Treatment episode, where we discuss chronic neck and back pain and its resolution. Our host is Dr. Tony Mork, an endoscopic spine specialist and certified North big surgeon with over 13 years of experience in the field. Today's episode is all about bulging discs and their different protrusions and bulges, so that when you read your MRI report, you have a better understanding of what's going on. Dr. Mork explains that a bulging disc is a common spinal condition that occurs when the soft cushion between the vertebrae bulges outwards, putti ..read more

Welcome to this podcast episode featuring Dr. Tony Mork, an esteemed endoscopic spinal surgeon, speaker, and inventor. In this episode, Dr. Mork will discuss an intriguing article presented at the American Academy of Surgeons meeting in New Orleans. The article sheds light on the treatment of chronic low back pain in individuals aged 65 and older, a significant issue that affects 1.5 million people in the United States. Among this age group, chronic low back pain is considered the second most disabling condition, trailing only arthritis. Dr. Mork delves deeper into a well-designed study that i ..read more

Welcome to this informative podcast episode with Dr. Tony Mork, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. Today, Dr. Mork will discuss adjacent segment disease (ASD) following spinal fusion surgery. He will share the story of a patient who underwent a successful fusion 10 years ago but has recently experienced increasing back, buttock, and leg pain, which has significantly impacted his active lifestyle and forced him to give up racquetball. Dr. Mork will walk listeners through the patient's MRI scans, explaining the various findings such as the darkening and narrowing of the disc, disc bulging, an ..read more

Introduction: Hi, I'm Dr. Tony Mork, an author, speaker, inventor, and board-certified surgeon. As an endoscopic spine specialist, I've dedicated my practice over the past 13 years exclusively to the treatment of painful neck and back conditions without the use of fusion. In this podcast, I will discuss endoscopic laser spine surgery, its differences from other types of spinal surgery, and how it can help those suffering from chronic pain. The Problem: Chronic neck or back pain can be debilitating, and it's not uncommon for individuals to experience pain that radiates down the arm or leg. Ofte ..read more

Hi, I'm Dr. Tony Mork, an endoscopic spine specialist. Today, I'd like to talk a little bit about lumbar foraminal stenosis. Whether it's in the cervical spine or the lumbar spine, the foraminal canals can become stenosed, or narrowed. The problem is essentially the same: if there is anything inside the foraminal canal, other than the nerve that's supposed to pass through it, the nerve becomes obstructed. This could be a deposit of bone, soft tissue, or a disc. These deposits compete for space with the nerve and often result in pain in the buttock, leg, or foot. Let's review the anatomy of the ..read more

Hi, I'm Dr. Tony Mork, an endoscopic spine specialist and orthopedic surgeon. Today, I'd like to talk about a term that's commonly discussed and that you may see in your radiology reports. It's a term I don't like very much because it doesn't have much meaning and is not very specific. That term is "spondylosis." Spondylosis refers to general  osteoarthritic changes of the spine, whether it be cervical, thoracic, or lumbar, but it doesn't really have anything to do with where you hurt, which is the main reason people are getting X-rays, CT scans, or MRI scans. It really only has to do wit ..read more

Hi I'm Dr Tony Mork endoscopic spine specialist. Today I'd like to talk about spondylolisthesis and although there are five types of spondylosis as described by Newman and McNabb, I'd like to talk about the most common one I get to see in my practice which is Degenerative Spondylolisthesis. Well first off, what a Spondylolisthesis? “Spondylo” means spine and listhesis means to slip. So there's some slipping of one vertebrae on the other, in this case usually in the elderly population although not always, and six times more commonly at the L4-5 and is the facets joints. As the joints of the fa ..read more

Transcription: Hi Im Dr Tony Mork, endoscopic spinal surgeon and today I'd like to take a few minutes to just show you what is possible endoscopically for the treatment of symptomatic cervical foraminal stenosis.  So the problem being tight framinal canals and that nerves getting compressed or pinched either from some bony problem like an overgrowth of Facet Joint the uncle vertebral joint getting enlarged or some disc herniation into canal. In any event the foraminal canal is too tight and the nerve is getting pinched giving rise to shoulder arm and hand pain. So this is the Richard wol ..read more