Q: My wife is having cervical spondylosis disc prolapse, radiculopathy, and the pain in her neck is always there. I had been told to go for surgery. Then when I consulted some doctors, the surgery can be done but 100% guarantee can not be given for pain relief. Then I went for Ayurvedic treatment at Madurai. Somehow, it is ok but pain is there. Compared to english medical treatment, some hope has come to my wife that something has got improved and now she is feeling some improvement in her mind. What is your answer for this?

A:It is good that your wife is showing improvement. But as you have mentioned the pain is still there. It is important to note that no surgery is 100 percent. There are always risks and complications associated with surgery and there can never be a guarantee. These have to be weighed against the benefits of surgery. When there are symptoms of radiculopathy or myelopathy, that means that the disc is pressing on the nerve or the cord, this can be seen on the MRI quite often, it is important to relieve pressure. Conservative treatment is aimed to stabilize the vertebral column, to prevent further disc prolapse. However, if the pain continues or neurological deficits are present, it is recommended that surgical stabilization be achieved.
I am not trying to prove that allopathy is better than ayurveda. Whatever makes one better, should be the answer. But I have no experience with ayurveda. Surgical stabilization can give permanent benefits. There have been instances when the neurological deficits do not return after surgery, only because the surgery was performed too late. Or only when there is a permanent damage to the nerves. There is no way to predict this, but we have always recommended surgery earlier whenever there are signs of radiculopathy, and conservative treatment does not give relief.