Search Results

Today, I would like to talk about a problem that almost everyone has experienced or continues to experience at some point in their life. Scientific definition; Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience resulting from or defined as actual or potential tissue damage. The issue of pain, which we encountered mostly in adults in the past, is no longer selective about age. I can say that I have patients from almost every age group who suffer from severe and chronic pain. Pain is a condition that reduces the quality of life of a person, especially if it is continuous. Moreover, pain itself is not even a disease! Pain is a distressing symptom that signals a problem in the body. People who have to live with pain often get support from painkillers, but sometimes there are types of pain that even these drugs cannot help. For our patients who come with complaints of pain, it is important that we first find the source of the pain. Then we can plan the treatment of this disease that causes pain. It is absolutely necessary for the doctor and the patient to decide together, according to the circumstances, which of the treatment methods such as local interventions for the disease, drug treatments, physical therapy applications, open and closed surgical operations will be applied or which ones will be applied.

This is actually a question that the vast majority of my patients ask! What Causes Neck Hernia? In order to answer this question more easily, we first need to look at what the spine is. Spine; It consists of 33 bones, called vertebrae, through which the spinal cord passes, allowing the body to stand upright. These vertebrae are connected to each other by a soft disc and two superficial joints. In the disc, there is cartilage tissue that acts as a shock absorber for the pressure on the vertebrae. So far, I have tried to explain the spine and its contents. Now let's come to the subject of hernia! With movements such as wrong or wrong movements or lifting weights, the muscles contract and the ligaments between the vertebrae are compressed. Moreover, the disc loses its water content over time and does not fully fulfill its shock absorber duty. For all these reasons, when the disc is damaged, the inner cartilage tissue comes out of the tear in the outer layer and overflows into the space where the nerves and spinal cord are located. Later, this overflowing cartilage causes various complaints as it presses on the nerves. As a result, we can briefly summarize why neck hernia occurs in this way. I wish you all healthy and pain-free days.

Scoliosis is the oldest known spinal deformity. Although the cause of 80% of the cases is unknown, Scoliosis; It can develop due to many reasons such as trauma, congenital developmental disorders. Scoliosis is a bending of the spine more than 10 degrees to the right or left. The external appearance of the spine in scoliosis can be likened to the letter S or C. The incidence of scoliosis varies between 0.2 - 6%. The first symptoms of scoliosis, which is more common in girls, are that the shoulders and hips do not stand symmetrically and the patient has a bulge on the back. Due to scoliosis, slippage also occurs in the hip, shoulder blades and rib cage. If left untreated, serious problems may occur in organs such as lower back, back pain, nerve damage, and lung and heart in advanced ages. In addition to all these physical problems, the unhappiness of the person's own appearance should also be taken into account. The diagnosis of scoliosis is made by X-ray showing the entire spine. MRI should be done to see if there is any other accompanying problem. Treatment varies according to the rate of progression of scoliosis, the degree of curvature, the presence of additional pathologies and the general condition of the patient. The treatment methods used are: Monitoring and continuous follow-up corset applications Scoliosis exercise and special rehabilitation applications We recommend surgical intervention as a last resort in case the curvature exceeds a critical value or causes additional diseases. In the surgical treatment that we safely apply in the light of today's technical developments, we can correct the spine by placing screws and rods on the back or waist, depending on the situation, in both regions.

Hernia; It is the rupture of the cushions (disc) sheaths between the vertebrae, and the aqueous cartilage part of the pillow goes out of the pillow and crushes the spinal cord and/or nerve root behind it. Already “hernia” refers to displacement. Every organ in the body has a specific place. If an organ displaces or disturbs another tissue or organ, this is a hernia. Example: If the intestines in the abdomen rupture the anterior wall and enter the abdominal wall, it is called an abdominal hernia. The rate of herniated disc among low back pain is 4%. The rate of herniated disc among leg pains is 70%. If the lumbar hernia has not burst, the rate of surgery is 2%. When it is said that the lumbar hernia has burst, the rate of surgery is 25%. The rate of emergency surgery in lumbar hernia is below 1%. Lumbar hernias that do not require surgery “HEAL BY THE BODY ON ITSELF”. THE MOST SUITABLE PAIN RELIEF MODEL IS SELECTED ACCORDING TO THE PATIENT… This model option is pain reliever. If the patient's nerve is not crushed, if you stop the pain, the body's defense system will resorb the part coming out of the pillow (disc), that is, clean it. The only next method of prevention is exercise. According to the patient, his expression is very important. Because what to do with each patient is decided according to the form of the complaint, the result of the examination and the shape of the hernia in the film. Not every patient is treated the same. For this reason, the fact that the doctor is the person who knows all the treatments results in the patient receiving the most correct treatment. The part coming out of the torn disc (the intervertebral pillow) does not often “squash” the nerve. This is very easy to detect on examination. Presence of a large disc, ruptured or ruptured hernia in MRI is not evidence for nerve crushing. In other words, you have a ruptured hernia, it can be seen on MRI, the sentence "Your spinal cord is being crushed" is incorrect, the correct statement is "crushing". For this, the doctor examines and decides. Because MRI is two-dimensional, this mistake is made because it does not see the third dimension. EMG is the method we use in few patients. The main thing is inspection. SO WHICH MODEL TO CHOOSE? In a patient with a complaint of "leg pain", it is the correct method to cut root pain by injection. Injection is a mini-surgical approach. Must be competent. Being a surgeon greatly reduces the bad consequences that may occur. It is not a completely side-effect-free method. In those with low back pain complaints, direct heating (hot water in a Thermophore) or Physiotherapy methods with methods such as Intradiscal Radiofrequency, Laser, Ozone are more accurate. If there are reasons such as low back mobility (instability) or sacroiliac pain, interligamentous pain, the main diagnosis is not hernia in people with low back pain, the situation is different, your doctor should definitely distinguish them. Manual therapy is appropriate if it is acute and occurs for the first time. Permanent treatment of the disease is more accurate in people with long-term pain and/or recurrent pain, not manual therapy. Otherwise, the above treatments are applied, but the patient does not recover or gets better, but after a week the pain starts again. Most of the diseases that cause low back pain, which are very few of the above, have "no image in MRI", but hernia has an image whether it causes pain or not. There is a hernia, but the pain is not from here, can something like this happen? It happens very often. This is perhaps the biggest trap for doctors...

Facet joint blockade with radiofrequency and intra-disc laser and radiofrequency interventions Intra-disc laser or radiofrequency applications, called IDET with facet blockade with radiofrequency or intra-discal interventions, are interventions that are gaining importance today. Nerve compression due to spinal stenosis, lumbar and neck hernias, which are the most common diseases of the modern age, constitute a very dense patient group. The vast majority of patients with such disorders resort to treatment methods called drug therapy, physical therapy or alternative medicine. Mostly, surgical interventions are required as a result. Every surgical intervention may be without alternative, if absolutely necessary. However, there is always a risk in every surgical procedure. Therefore, today's people are in search of non-surgical treatments. Recently, due to the concentration of Neurosurgeons on the subject, non-operative procedures have become more effective. The aim here is to present the most effective method to the patient in non-operative treatments. FACET BLOCKAGE WITH RADIOFREQUENCY It is very effective in walking, sitting and standing difficulties in severe low back and hip pains, which mostly cause narrowing of the spinal canal, advanced calcification and unruptured hernias. It is the most effective method in patients with chronic complaints who do not require an operation or who do not want to have an operation even if an operation is recommended. In the operating room conditions, without being put to sleep, under local anesthesia, needles are made to the determined parts of the spine, waist, back and neck with the help of scopy, these areas are burned with radio waves and the pain receptors formed cannot reach the brain. After the procedure, which lasts for half an hour, the patient's hospital stay does not exceed 1 hour. Within 7-10 days after the procedure, there is a further improvement in the back and hip pain and walking difficulties of the patients, and the comfort of life increases. Patient satisfaction is 80%. I have 2 articles published in foreign journals that support these results. IDET It is a procedure performed with intra-disc radiofrequency or laser in the waist and neck, and may be the primary treatment for hernias that have not burst or caused injury. If the condition of the patient, who is evaluated by a neurosurgeon, is suitable for this procedure, the hernia can be reduced or destroyed by inserting a needle into the disc with local anesthesia in the operating room. These procedures, which have high success rates in appropriate patient selection, can often eliminate the need for surgery. In particular, it is a great advantage for the Neurosurgeon to evaluate the patient and perform the procedure himself. In such procedures, especially in radiofrequency applications, the probability of complications is almost non-existent, and patients can return to their daily lives in a short time after the procedure. For this reason, its use is increasing in today's patients. It is a very effective procedure in experienced hands.

Vertebroplasty is the procedure of injecting bone cement into the spine by entering through a 1 cm incision from the skin, under local or general anesthesia, in spinal fractures, malignant metastatic or primary tumors of the spine, painful hemangiomas of the spine, pathological fractures due to multiple myeloma, under local or general anesthesia in appropriate patient groups. The most commonly used area is the treatment of fractures of the spine due to osteoporosis (bone loss). The aim is to reduce pain that does not improve despite rest and painkillers. The main purpose of the procedure is to reduce pain, but to restore strength to the fractured spine. Not every spine fracture is suitable for vertebroplasty. In suitable patients, the pain is significantly reduced and people can return to their normal lives. It is applied in patients who cannot or do not need stabilization surgery, and who do not have a significant reduction in pain despite an average of 4 weeks of rest and medical treatment. In the kyphoplasty procedure, in addition to the vertebroplasty procedure, it is aimed to increase the height of the fractured spine by inflating a balloon in the spine and to increase the area to be injected with cement. This procedure is mostly preferred in cases where the spine creates significant angulation or deformation. At the 2nd hour after the procedure, the patients stand up and are discharged on the same day or the next day.

What is stomach botox? The application of Botulinum toxin (botox) to the stomach is a relatively new weight loss method based on the endoscopic injection of Botulinum toxin into certain parts of the stomach. In this method, the contraction of the stomach muscles is limited and the gastric emptying time is delayed and the patient loses appetite; thus weight loss is achieved. Who is stomach botox suitable for? Stomach botox can actually be applied to anyone who wants to lose weight. This procedure is not an obesity surgery. However, there are certain criteria for patients who can be applied. It is a suitable method for those who cannot lose weight as needed with diet and sports. Since stomach botox will not be beneficial in patients with a body mass index above 40 and who can achieve success with bariatric surgery, it is not recommended for these patients. The body mass index of the patients who will be treated with stomach botox should be below 40. In other words, it is applied to individuals with a body mass index of 27-35 and an excess of 10-20 kilograms who cannot lose weight with diet and exercise. At this point, patients who are overweight but not obese enough to be operated on and who want to lose weight constitute the ideal patient group. In patients with stomach ulcers or gastritis, after the appropriate treatment of these diseases, stomach botox can be applied. Family support is important for the patient in stomach botox. With a consensus, the patient can be motivated. Does stomach botox make you lose weight? No method, including stomach botox, is guaranteed to lose weight. It is not right to treat stomach botox as a miraculous cure. Although it is known that stomach botox has an appetite-reducing effect and helps diet, there is a possibility of failure in patients fed with high carbohydrate after botox application. When does the effect of stomach botox start? The feeling of hunger decreases within 2-3 days after stomach botox is applied. After 2 weeks, weight loss begins to be seen. The targeted 10-20 kilos are lost. Stomach botox is applied only to the smooth muscles of the stomach, it has no effect on nerve cells and the movement of the intestines. Therefore, it does not have an effect on increasing intestinal laziness. In the diet that will be specially prepared for you after stomach botox, (indicate this situation to your dietitian), an improvement in intestinal laziness can be seen by adding foods for the operation of the intestines to the diet. Can it be applied to pregnant and lactating women? Adequate studies have not been conducted on the use of stomach botox in pregnant and lactating women.

Lumbar Hernia: The part of our skeleton that we describe as the backbone consists of five vertebrae. Between them is a structure we call the disc, which acts as a kind of buffer, helps us move our waist and transmits body weight to the lower vertebrae. Due to reasons such as sudden movements with the waist and lifting weights, tearing and protrusion of the disc between the vertebrae occur. As a result of this disc herniation, the nerves from the waist to the legs and feet are compressed, and pain begins from the waist and spreads to the entire leg and foot. Low-progress hernias can be overcome with rest and medication. However, if the herniated disc progresses, there may be problems in the leg, inability to stand, weakness, and urinary retention. If the hernia does not go away with rest and medication, the complaints are getting worse, and if a herniated disc pressing on the nerves is detected in the MRI examination, surgery is required. There are various surgical methods. SURGICAL METHODS IN WAIST HERNIA 1- Open surgery: It is the removal of the hernia that causes nerve compression by opening the hernia area with general anesthesia in the surgery. 2- Microsurgery method: It is similar to open surgery, but the area where the incision is made and opened is smaller, about 2 cm. as much. The surgery is done under a microscope. Since the microscope is used in the surgery, a more effective operation is performed. 3- Endoscopic surgery: The hernia area is entered through a small incision with an instrument called an endoscope. The hernia is evacuated through the camera system. Not every hernia case is suitable for endoscopic surgery. In addition, the probability of recurrence is higher than other methods.

Spinal canal narrowing; Spinal canal narrowing, which is often seen in people between the ages of 50-70, can occur congenitally or later. It can occur in the form of thickening and calcification of the tissues that appear in our waist part in a certain period of time and narrowing the canal through which the spinal cord passes. This discomfort, which usually occurs as a result of inactivity, can also be caused by heavy work tempo and excess weight.

Some warning signs can be observed in people with aneurysm rupture and bleeding. Persistent headache in any part of the head Nausea and vomiting followed by nausea Stiffness in the neck (patient cannot bend his head forward easily) Visual impairment and double vision sensitivity to light numbness If there is no bleeding in the aneurysm, no symptoms may be observed in the majority of patients. Some or all of the listed symptoms are observed in a small percentage of patients. Paralysis of the optic nerves (it can be understood from the involuntary drooping of the eyelid and inability to move it easily.) Unobserved dilated pupils in both eyes Headache that does not subside in one area Increasing feeling of weakness and lethargy Brain Aneurysm Treatment As in all treatments, the patient and the specialist should act together in this treatment. If the situation is not favorable to this, the decision is made with the patient's closest relative in cases where the patient is unconscious. The most appropriate treatment method is recommended by the specialist according to the current condition of the patient. With the non-surgical method, if the aneurysm is small and carries little risk of enlargement and bleeding, it may be advisable to follow its course only. It is important to repeat diagnostic tests as this process continues and these individuals are still at risk of annual bleeding. Open surgery is a technique that has been applied to patients with aneurysms for a long time and has an important place in the treatment spectrum. The main purpose of the operation is to close the aneurysm, and a small opening is created in the skull of the patient who is anesthetized with general anesthesia. The operation is performed through this opening and the bone piece removed after the operation is placed back in its place.

Acne; As a result of the hormonal stimulation of the sebaceous glands on the face, back and trunk, excessive oil secretion occurs with the symptoms known as acne on the skin. It is usually seen in adolescence and rarely above 25 years of age. There are misconceptions about acne. Acne is not caused by a liver disorder. There is usually no genetic predisposition in acne. However, it is more common in individuals with severe acne problems in a genetic predisposition family. A relationship between diet and acne has not been proven. However, white food products (flour, sugar, chocolate) that increase the glycemic index can rarely increase acne. However, oily foods, chips, cola, nuts do not increase acne. There may be a link between menstrual irregularity and acne. Especially in acne that starts after the age of 25, if there is menstrual irregularity, weight gain, excessive hair growth on the chin and abdomen in addition to acne, polycystic ovary disease should be evaluated. When acne is treated, it is a period disease that resolves in 6-12 months. However, being late in treatment can lead to facial scars depending on the severity of acne. This condition may require procedures that take longer to treat.

As we age, mimic wrinkles begin to form on our skin with the effect of our facial expressions. Wrinkles remain visible even though we do not mimic. For example, crow's feet around the eyes, vertical lines between the eyebrows, horizontal lines on our forehead, smile lines on the corners of the lips, vertical lines above the lips. Before these lines are formed, we can get rid of permanent wrinkles thanks to the application of botolinium toxin to our mimic muscles. Botulinum Toxin application is a toxin that has a relaxing effect on mimic muscles. It is an application that can be done by specialist doctors because it is a toxin. There are two brands approved by the Ministry of Health in our country. These are Botox Cosmetic and Dysport brands. Apart from these, the products used as botulinum toxin products are not licensed by the Ministry of Health.