Column Treatment Progress Report No.35: a Patient That Recovered Enough to Play Golf Again Comfortably
The patient
A male patient in his 60s.
Treated in January 2023. About 4 months have passed since the treatment.
Symptoms and treatment
The patient was diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation in the area indicated by the red rectangle (disc L4/5).
The vertebral discs L2/3, 3/4 and 5/s showed signs of inververtebral disc degeneration.
Evolution prior to treatment
In June 2020, at his physical examination, he discovered his height shrank by 7mm. From around this point, his lower back felt lethargic.
In July 2022, during a session of golf, the lower right side of his back and his lower right leg began to hurt. He went to his local orthopedic clinic and was diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation in the L4/5 disc. He received a blocking shot.
In September 2022, after his condition did not improve, he went to another doctor for a second opinion and surgery was recommended to him.
He wanted to avoid surgery and a hospital stay, so he came to our clinic for treatment.
The treatment at our clinic
The patient was treated with the Cellgel method on 4 intervertebral discs (L2/3, 3/4, 4/5 and 5/s).
Evolution consecutive to treatment
The following is a chart in which the patient himself rated the pain value of each area on a scale of 0 to 10.
No pain at all is rated as 0, and the maximum possible pain is rated as 10.
| Lower back | Lower limbs | Numbness | Buttocks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before treatment | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| One week after treatment | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 month after treatment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 months after treatment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The following comments were obtained from the patient when contacted for follow-up.
After one week, some pain and lethargy remained in his lower back, but other areas felt much better.
After 1 month, when waking up, he felt a little discomfort, but there was no other symptoms in his daily life.
After 3 months, he sometimes felt a ping in his back when he stood up from a chair or got out of his car.
He was very happy to be able to golf again.
This patient was able to see a result very quickly. There seem to be a few things in his daily life that cause some discomfort, but he takes care to not injure himself and we are very happy that he is incredibly satisfied with his recovery.
* Results vary among individuals. Please be aware that identical outcomes cannot be guaranteed.
* It generally takes 3 weeks to 3 months for treatment effects to appear.
Our Clinic’s Treatment
Supplementary Information on the Cellgel Method
Cost of the Cergel Method:
¥1,320,000 / 1 site (tax included)
to ¥1,760,000 / 5 sites (tax included)
Risks and Side Effects:
Temporary pain may occur after treatment.
Nerve injury is theoretically possible due to the nature of the procedure, but no such cases have been reported in our own experience or in published studies.
Extremely rare risk of allergic reaction to local anesthetic.
Symptoms may temporarily worsen for 1–2 weeks after treatment, believed to be due to decompression effects of the implant pulling on surrounding tissue.
If the disc is severely collapsed or nearly gone, treatment may not be possible.
The physician will discuss suitable treatment options with each patient depending on their condition.
For more detailed information, please refer to the following links:
This article was written by the administrative Director of our clinic
