Hey Randy,
What kind of laser surgery?What are they saying their wanting to do?I had laser surgery and I'm in more pain now than before my surgery.

I am also evaluating laser surgery. You can see the wonderful pickle I am in in the following post.

http://www.spine-health.com/forum/sciatica-leg-pain-radiculopathy/weak-c...

I live in Panama City Beach and am looking into places in Tampa. I would love to hear from people who have done it. I wish I had better information with which to make this huge decision.

in December 2007. It did help the pain going down my leg. The recovery is usually a little more intense than what they prepare you for. I will be glad to answer any questions that I can.

I've always been fairly suspicious of laser surgery. The fact that most or all do not take insurance makes me think that it is considered "experimental" by the insurance companies, and the fact that you can't open a website pertaining to backs without finding an ad from one or two "clinics" makes it seem more like a business than a medical facility. I also wonder if these laser procedures are so great, why aren't they done all over the world? Why hasn't it caught on in other states?

I found it difficult to get information on these laser clinics. I approached it with an open mind, but I never found out enough about them to make me feel comfortable. I know several years ago you could find articles in the Tampa papers relating to various law suits against one of the clinics. I'm not sure if they just changed the name or if the doctors are now different. As I said, I haven't done any research recently.

Good luck with your search for information. I'll be interested to learn what you find.

xx Gwennie

I don’t have much faith in Insurance Companies. Years ago I had to fight with the insurance companies to get my MRI. They would send me to one of there doctors to “examine” me and then explain that I couldn’t have any more treatment because there was nothing that was going to improve my condition. I make decent money, so I started fighting back. I told them that if they wouldn’t pay for it and report them. They wanted a few days to review my file. I went to the doctor they told me they were working on approval to examine me and I paid for it. It caused havoc with there procedures, but they started taking a different attitude.
They don’t cover decompression therapy (a decompression table) and I believe I have seen significant help over the past few weeks because of it.
I would like to hear from different people who have had Percutaneous Laser Disc Decompression. I am also finding out there are different types of that procedure. I just talked to a friend of a friend. He had it done in New York and swears by it. He had 2 disks done on his neck. His daughter had a different type of procedure done in New Orleans and had no success. This whole situation is horrible for all of us because we each have unique problems. There is no way to be certain about our decisions and the consequences can be grave.
I am just trying to do the most research I can and make the best choice. I don’t know what else to do.

Are you familiar with the clinic near you in the Panhandle that does micro surgery, both laser and regular? I sent you a PM with a link to it, in case you aren't aware of it.

Regarding the laser surgery, I imagine it is just like any procedure. Depending on what is wrong, it works well for some conditions and less well for others.

44 years old and tired of the pain, I have been out of work this time for 6 weeks now. everytime my back goes out I am out longer. I also have the L5 S1 had surgery 18 months ago and obviously it didn't work well here I am again. Tried epidural shots again and they didnt help much either. Went to a seminar last week about laser surgery in Scottsdale AZ. Sounds great but looking for more information

Thanks for any info

I am looking into one of the laser treatment centers in Dallas to repair my bulging discs (spinal compression) and bone spurring. It is covered under my insurance as far as can tell... I can PM with the actual website. They don't go into the exact 'technical' wording or details of their procedures on their website, so I kind of want to make an appt. just to see exactly what they do. Supposedly, it is even less minimally invasive then most minimally invasive procedures because it they do not use any kinda of retractor and the incision is only about 3 mm. So there is minimal/to no muscle/tissue damage. This is not the procedure where they go through your sacral hiatus to repair discs though... looked into them too and decided not really worth the risks of nicking my spinal cord.

please be sure and do a SH search engine on "Laser spine surgery" you will find lots of info and posts about the procedure.. good luck. Jenny