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Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery Center Blog View all posts

Can My Spinal Fractures Heal on Their Own with Rest?
If you have a spinal fracture, treatment depends on the type and severity of the break, as well as whether other structures are involved. Can fractures heal on their own with just rest? Keep reading to learn the answer.
May 1st, 2022

5 Risk Factors for a Herniated Disc
A herniated disc may produce no symptoms or pain and weakness so severe they’re disabling. Knowing your risk factors may help you prevent a disc from herniating in the first place.
Apr 1st, 2022

Radiculopathy Types and What to Expect
Radiculopathy is pain that travels down nerve paths into the extremities. Keep reading to learn about the different types, what you can expect, and how you can find relief.
Mar 1st, 2022

Spinal Stenosis: 3 Effective Treatments
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal that can cause radiating pain by compressing spinal nerve roots. Keep reading to learn about three effective treatments to relieve your distress.
Feb 1st, 2022

Can Aging Cause Sciatica?
Sciatica is a common condition where the sciatic nerve becomes irritated or inflamed, causing pain, weakness, and numbness along its path. Can it be caused by aging? Read on to find out.
Jan 1st, 2022

Can I Tell if I Have a Brain Tumor?
You’re not a doctor, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know the warning signs of a brain tumor. Early detection can lead to more effective treatment. Get all the facts here.
Dec 1st, 2021

Warning Signs of a Pinched Nerve
A pinched nerve is painful and irritating, and it can affect your daily activities. We outline the warning signs of a pinched nerve and share what you can do about it.
Nov 1st, 2021

My Child Has Scoliosis. Now What?
If your child has scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, you may be at a loss about what to do next. We have answers (and treatments) for you.
Oct 1st, 2021

Effective Scoliosis Treatment
If your spine has developed a side-to-side curve, you may have scoliosis, a spinal deformity. Learn about effective treatments for this condition here.
Sep 16th, 2021

Keeping Our Patients Safe During COVID-19
With guidance from the Center for Disease Control and local public health departments, our Outpatient Surgery Center (OSC) has taken great care to create its own set of guidelines to promote a safe option for surgical intervention.
Aug 25th, 2020

4 Myths About Regenerative Injection Therapy
In recent years, regenerative injection therapies (like stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma, or PRP) have become very popular as treatment options for back, spine and sports injuries.
Mar 16th, 2020

Patient's Guide to Sports-Related Spine Injuries
For athletes, sports injuries are a fact of life. When you’re depending on your body to push it to the finish line and meet extraordinary physical goals, there’s bound to be some collateral damage along the road.
Nov 5th, 2019

Demystifying Leg Pain vs. Back Pain
Because the nerves in the spinal column eventually travel down the legs, pain in one of these regions is often related to a problem in the other.
Oct 14th, 2019

Patient’s Guide to Robotic Spine Surgery
While minimally invasive surgical techniques have made spine surgery more accurate, less painful and less traumatic in recent years, robotics are now changing spine surgery for the better in ways we could only imagine just a few years ago.
Aug 29th, 2019

3 Common Myths About Sciatica
“Sciatica” is a term that many people use loosely without truly understanding what it is or what its ramifications might be.
Aug 20th, 2019

Patient’s Guide to Spinal Pain Management
As many as 80 percent of people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. However, the fact that back pain is common doesn’t lessen its impact on our quality of life.
Aug 15th, 2019

Patient’s Guide to Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
For patients suffering from neck or back pain, the idea of surgery can be quite intimidating. Indeed, in earlier days, spine surgery could be quite involved and complicated, and the rates of success were inconsistent at best.
Jun 24th, 2019

How Robotics Are Changing Spine Surgery
Every so often, a technological advance or discovery will revolutionize an industry, radically changing the way things are done, as well as changing expectations for success.
May 22nd, 2019

Robot-Guided Surgery: What Patients Must Know
When some people hear the term “robotics” in the context of surgery, their minds jump into the realm of science fiction, perhaps picturing an artificially intelligent machine performing a delicate procedure on them.
May 8th, 2019

Spinal Screw Placements with ExcelsiusGPS
When performing back and spine surgery — particularly with spinal screw placements — precision is key to a successful operation with minimal risk to the patient.
Apr 24th, 2019

The Future of Robotic Spine Surgery
The use of robotics in surgery isn’t exactly a new concept, but with the technological advances of recent years, it is just now making its first inroads into the mainstream.
Apr 10th, 2019

Lasers: For Star Wars Only
After the sudden closure of the Laser Spine Institute, based in Tampa, Florida, many people are now asking, “Was laser spine surgery just a fad? Just a bunch of hype?”
Mar 15th, 2019

What Conditions Can Robotic Spine Surgery Correct?
The emergence of robotic-assisted spine surgery is an exciting development that promises higher levels of accuracy and success with spinal procedures, as well as reduced risks and decreased recovery times for patients.
Dec 18th, 2018

Can Robotic Spine Surgery Fix Leg Pain?
Robotic-assisted spine surgery is an advanced technology that makes minimally invasive spinal procedures even less invasive, safer and less painful.
Dec 16th, 2018

What Causes Spine Curvature Disorders?
The spinal column is designed to protect the spinal cord while providing skeletal support and balance to the body, allowing humans to stand upright.
Dec 11th, 2018

The History of Robotic Spine Surgery
The use of robotics in spinal surgery is getting a lot of attention these days as a revolutionary medical advance — but the beginnings of robotic spine surgery actually go back almost 20 years, and the roots of robotic surgery in general date back decades.
Nov 21st, 2018

Is Robotic Spine Surgery Right For Me?
Robotic spine surgery is one of those significant medical advancements with the potential to completely revolutionize the way spine and neurosurgeons approach surgical treatment for their patients.
Oct 10th, 2018

5 Advantages of Robotic Spine Surgery
Robotic technology is changing the way surgeons perform surgical spine operations, and Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery Center is excited to be at the head of this new technology with the adoption of Excelsius GPSTM.
Aug 16th, 2018

Opioids: Health Hazards and Alternative Treatments
The opioid crisis is one of the biggest problems our society is facing. Stories of celebrity overdoses, high-profile drug busts, and lethal new compounds of fentanyl are constantly in the media.
Aug 9th, 2018

8 Most Common Sports Injuries
Participating in one or more sports is a vital part of a healthy, active lifestyle — good for the heart, good for the respiration, good for building and maintaining muscular strength, etc.
Jul 12th, 2018

Is Robotic Spine Surgery Safe?
Recent advances in medical technology tend to excite healthcare professionals — but at the same time, they can intimidate patients who don’t fully understand it.
Jul 6th, 2018

Healing Your Back with Robotic Surgery
Patients needing back surgeries now have a safer, more accurate alternative to traditional surgery in their quest for healing and long-term relief.
Jun 14th, 2018

How Does Robotic Spine Surgery Work?
The use of robots in surgery might be one of the most exciting medical innovations of our time — and yet many patients are unaware of the benefits or are concerned about the outcomes.
Jun 6th, 2018

How Long Does Back Pain Recovery Take?
Back pain affects about 80 percent of us at some point in our lives, and when it happens, it can disrupt our routine and lessen the quality of life.
May 30th, 2018

3 Low Back Pain Rehabilitation Exercises
The vast majority of us will suffer some sort of lower back pain at some time in our lives. In many cases, back pain occurs due to overuse, strain and injury due to sports activities.
May 22nd, 2018

How Athletes Can Prevent Back Injuries
It’s the bane of the athlete’s existence: The ongoing threat of injury. When a season-ending back injury pulls you out of the game, the frustration can be just as torturous as the pain itself.
Feb 27th, 2018

What Injuries Can PRP Therapy Treat?
Platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP therapy, for short) has become immensely popular as a treatment for various injuries, especially athletic-related injuries.
Feb 20th, 2018

8 Exercise Mistakes That Exacerbate Back Pain
When you’re experiencing back pain, there’s nothing wrong with continuing some sort of exercise routine. In fact, exercise in general is encouraged because it helps increase strength and flexibility to support the back and promote healing.
Feb 13th, 2018

What to Look For in an Atlanta PRP Specialist
Platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) has gained a lot of attention in recent years as a way to accelerate the healing of various injuries by injecting a patient’s own platelet cells into the injury site, enabling the body to heal itself more quickly.
Feb 6th, 2018

Laser Spine Surgery: Why Our Spine Surgeons Say No
There’s something about the term “laser surgery” that automatically suggests “cutting edge,” the apex of technology. We automatically assume that the use of lasers suggests unmatched surgical precision.
Dec 20th, 2017

What Causes Back Pain?
If you’re experiencing back pain, you’re in good company. Experts at the Mayo Clinic estimate that as many as 80 percent of Americans will experience low back pain at some point in their lives.
Dec 14th, 2017

What Are Treatment Options for Spondylolisthesis?
Spondylolisthesis — it’s a mouthful to say, but it is nothing to smirk at. It can be a source of significant pain, causing restricted mobility, numbness and in rare cases even incontinence.
Dec 4th, 2017

How to Choose an Atlanta PRP Specialist
Platelet-rich Plasma Injection Therapy is growing in popularity as an effective treatment for various types of injuries, including ailments of the back and spine.
Nov 20th, 2017

Does My Back Pain Require Surgery?
When a person develops significant or acute back pain, it also quite often is accompanied by fear of painful, invasive surgical procedures that may or may not even work.
Nov 14th, 2017

How to Get Better Sleep With Chronic Lower Back Pain
It’s a bit of a paradox: Having chronic lower back pain can make it difficult to sleep, yet sleeping well at night is one of the keys to promoting good back health overall. How do you break the vicious cycle?
Oct 4th, 2017

What It Takes to Be One of Atlanta’s Top Neurosurgeons
Issues with the brain, spine, and neck can have a ripple effect on so many other parts of the body, which is why you should only entrust your care to the most qualified medical professionals when you need a neurosurgical procedure.
May 10th, 2017

Can Adults Develop Scoliosis?
Yes, adults develop scoliosis more often than you think. Scoliosis refers to a curvature of the spine, either to the right or left, caused by any of a number of factors.
Apr 1st, 2017

How Do I Prevent Kyphosis?
Kyphosis is a rounded curvature of the upper spine that contributes to a “stooped” or “hunched” look.
Apr 1st, 2017

Does Acupuncture Really Work?
Acupuncture is an ancient practice from traditional Chinese medicine that is used to relieve pain and other symptoms on the premise of restoring the flow of energy (“qi”) along the pathways of the body.
Mar 24th, 2017

Is Electromyography (EMG) Painful?
Electromyography (EMG) is a test that measures and graphs the electrical activity in your muscles as they move. Muscles contract when nerve cells (called motor neurons) send a small electrical impulse into them.
Mar 22nd, 2017

What to Expect After Undergoing a Laminectomy
A laminectomy is a surgical procedure in which your spinal surgeon removes a portion of one or more of your vertebrae to relieve pressure on the spinal cord. This is performed under general anesthesia.
Mar 20th, 2017

How is Spondylolisthesis Treated with Surgery?
Spondylolisthesis is a condition of the back in which one vertebra slides forward or backward onto an adjacent vertebra, often causing significant pain, weakness or numbness in areas ranging from the lower back and buttocks to running down the legs.
Feb 17th, 2017

An Interview With Thomas J. Morrison III, MD
Dr. Thomas J. Morrison, III: I see a lot of patients that have complex spinal problems, which include things from lumbar deformity, kyphosis and scoliosis or herniated discs in their lower back.
Feb 17th, 2017

What Are My Options For Disc Replacement?
If you have been suffering from lower back pain for an extended period of time and non-surgical treatments have not helped enough, you may be wondering about your options for spinal disc replacement surgery.
Dec 12th, 2016

Top 10 Back Pain Causes
Almost everyone experiences back pain at some point in their lives. In fact, recent estimates suggest that a third of the population — as many as 100 million Americans — experience chronic back pain.
Oct 3rd, 2016

5 Easy At-Home Back Pain Remedies
The back is one of the more complex parts of your body. It is composed of the spine, discs, tendons, muscles, and ligaments.
Jun 22nd, 2015

What is Thoracic Spine Surgery?
The thoracic area of the spine resides within the upper back and abdomen, between the cervical spine in the neck and the lumbar spine in the lower back.
Jun 18th, 2015