When is laser treatment recommended for herniated discs?

Doctor's Answers 1

Photo of Dr Shee Yan Fong
Dr Shee Yan Fong

Orthopaedic Surgeon

According to Ministry of Health guidelines, laser treatment is currently NOT a recommended treatment for spinal disorders in Singapore (unlike in USA). In fact, laser spine surgery is NOT even included in the Ministry of Health list of Table for Surgical Procedures for purposes of fee benchmark/insurance/medisave claims !

Please be aware of this and double check with your specialist again if you are recommended to undergo laser spine treatment as you may be charged under another different spine procedure instead (e.g. radiofrequency discoplasty "injection" which is NOT laser treatment !)

Furthermore make sure your specialist is accreditated by hospital to allow him to use laser equipment (similar to eye surgeon using lasik) not all doctors are accreditated and use of laser has risks !

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What can I do to reduce the pain of a herniated disc?

Thank you for your question and I’m sorry to hear about your symptoms. Three years is an awfully long time to be experiencing pain symptoms - I presume you have had and MRI scan to confirm the disc herniation? Options basically fall under two categories - non-surgical (conservative) and surgical. Depending on your symptoms, it might be worth seeking another assessment prior to deciding one way or the other.

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