Wednesday March 28, 2001

Back Pain Cure

You feel it getting out of bed, bringing in the groceries, bending down for those files … your aching back. For most of us it's an annoyance. But for millions of others, like 23-year-old basketball coach Analise Tebano, simply sitting at a desk or in a car can be unbearable.

Once an active college basketball star, Analise injured herself on the court three years ago. X-rays showed a ruptured disc. The traditional treatment? Major surgery called "spinal fusion" where doctors destroy the damaged disc and fuse the surrounding vertebrae together. In many cases metallic rods are also implanted. She says, "At 21-years-old I really didn't want to have all these rods in my back."

So Analise decided to "throw up a prayer" - taking her chances on a new procedure called IDET. Her doctor says, "The beauty of the procedure is that it's minimally invasive, it's done on an outpatient basis, meaning you go home the same day."

Here's how it works: Instead of removing the damaged disc, the IDET procedure repairs it using a needle and a probe that heats the damaged area up to 194-degrees. The heat essentially seals any cracks in the disc, destroying the nerves that cause the pain. The entire process takes about 15 minutes, but the results are not immediate.

Her doctor says, "I've seen patients as early as six weeks feel tremendously better. But I have had patients with continued improvement up to six months after the procedure."

For Analise the full recovery took about six months. She's able to shoot hoops again and says for anyone who suffers from debilitating back pain, the IDET is a slam-dunk.