3 ‘BACK’ ON

Low back pain and/or leg pain from sciatica can be debilitating. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, treatment for back pain costs roughly $100 billion a year.

Oftentimes, the culprit of back pain is one of the Oreosized, cartilage-filled discs that hold vertebrae together. There are 23 of these discs in the human spine — six in the neck (cervical region), 12 in the middle back (thoracic region), and five in the lower back (lumbar region). Severe pain can occur when these discs degenerate or herniate.

Many patients who fail to find relief through physical therapy, medication, or epidural steroid injections are turning to a new treatment for degenerative

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SOURCES: “Medical marijuana supporter: Florida won’t be another California.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune. politics.heraldtribune.co m/2013/08/01/medical-marijuana-supporter-fl orida-wont-be-beanother-california/; “Medical marijuana slows petition drive until high court rules.” Miami Herald. www.miamiherald.com/2013/08

/15/3565544/medical-marijuana-slows-petition.html; “Proponents say legalizing medical marijuana in Florida could help those suffering.” Orlando Sentinel. articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-09-07/ news/os-medical-marijuana-disabled-boy-20130907_1_medical-marijuanamarijuana-use-fl orida-supreme-court;

“For Patients with Back, Neck Pain, Artifi cial Disc Replacement Has Cost, Outcome Advanatg es Over Standard Fusion Surgery.” www.cedars-sinai.edu/About-Us/ News/News-Releases-2011-/For-Patients-with-Back-Neck-Pain-Artifi cial-Disc-Replacement-Has-Cost-Outcome-Advanatges-Over-Standard -Fusion-Surgery.aspx; “Lumbar Disk Replacement.” www. hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/test_procedures/neurological/lumbar_disk_replacement_135,1/ (Accessed Sept. 13, 2013)