Yet one more question regarding ADR....

[back2lifeplease]

I got to thinking(mind you, this is dangerous). Let's say you have successful ADR surgery at the L5S1. You are 35 and have no problems with the disc for the rest of you life. The discs above you though begin to fuse, as the naturally do. The facets at those levels now get pressure due to this compression, as they naturally would if you never had disc problems. So since you have the ADR at the L5S1 wouldn't there be more pressure on that particular facet? Due to the fact that when the back naturally fuses with no problems the pressure on the facets will equally distribute all the way down the spine, from top to bottom. Now they can't b/c of the ADR.

This may be way off base and I could be dead wrong here, so please be gentle if I am.

Thanks,

Chris

[Harrison]

I think it's a good question. Regardless of the patient, the new hardware will stress ALL the soft and hard tissues in the area of the implant, especially the Z joints (facets). The wild cards:

- how long DDD (localized disease) has been present;
- patient's weight, diet, overall health.

There are many other factors, these are just some of them. Btw, it's OK to over analyze. I did in 2003, and it helped me be "complete" the day of surgery...