Cervical Disc Replacement: A Guide for Modesto Patients

What it means to come from Modesto

We are a Fresno practice with one office. There is no Modesto clinic and no visiting surgeon days in Stanislaus County. Consultations, surgery and follow-up visits all take place in Fresno.

The trip is about 95 miles south on Highway 99, roughly an hour and a half each way from downtown Modesto to central Fresno. It passes through Turlock, Merced and Madera, so there are plenty of places to stop.

Modesto has spine care close to home, including at Memorial Medical Center, Doctors Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente Modesto. Many people are treated there. Those who make the drive to us are usually asking a specific question: am I a candidate for a disc replacement, or do I need a fusion? Some come for a second opinion after being told they need surgery.

The operation in plain terms

Through a short incision in the front of the neck, the surgeon moves the throat and food pipe gently to the side, reaches the spine and removes the damaged disc. That takes pressure off the nerve root or spinal cord. Then an artificial disc is placed in the empty space. It is built to move, so the neck can still bend and turn at that level.

The standard alternative is anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, or ACDF. It removes the disc the same way but then joins the two bones. ACDF is a proven operation and is the right choice for many people. You can compare the two in more detail on our artificial disc replacement page.

Who may be a candidate

Disc replacement is most often considered when:

• A herniated disc in the neck is pressing on a nerve and causing arm symptoms
• Degenerative disc disease at one or two levels is squeezing a nerve or the spinal cord
• Therapy, medicine, time and sometimes injections have not given enough relief

It may not fit if the small joints at the back of the neck have severe arthritis, if the spine is unstable, if bones are weak, or if many levels are involved. Your MRI and x-rays, and sometimes x-rays taken while you bend forward and back, help answer that.

Modesto jobs and neck strain

Modesto is a food processing town. Wineries, poultry plants and other food makers are among the largest employers in Stanislaus County. A lot of that work involves reaching, lifting and repeating the same arm motion for a full shift. Other people in the area drive for a living or work in orchards and fields.

Work like this does not cause every neck problem, and many people with arm pain from a disc get better without surgery. But when surgery is on the table, people with physical jobs often ask about motion and return to work. Those are good questions. The honest answer depends on your imaging, your health and the type of work you do.

Planning your visits from Modesto

• Before the first visit: ask your imaging center to send the MRI images, not just the report. Bring a list of medicines and what treatments you have tried.
• Insurance: some plans require a referral to a surgeon outside your area. Call your plan first to avoid a surprise.
• Surgery day: the operation is at Fresno Surgical Hospital, and many people go home the same day or after one night. You will need an adult to drive you home.
• Staying over: if you are kept overnight or your surgery starts early, your driver may want a hotel room in Fresno rather than making the 90 minute drive twice.
• Follow-up: several visits over the first months to check your healing and x-rays.

Our article on what recovery after spine surgery looks like covers the weeks after you get home.