Wolfs Law-Anyone hear of this?

[cheryl stewart]

I was told by a medical device rep that has a degree in sports med. that Wolfs Law proves that once you stablize one area of the spine that pressure will be placed above and below thus causing other levels to wear. Now of coarse I am not going into the greatest detail here. I feel that I am proof of this. After my second surgery to revise a failed fusion at my c4/5 5/6 my level above at c3/4 became worse. Then that resulted in a peek cage at that level. So we do surgery on the 3/4 and then the c6/7 c7/t1 starts wearing down. My bone spurs are worse now at these level!!! So here is my question, what now??? I know we can just remove the bone spurs causiing the pain, and then if any disc is touching my cord or nerves, correct that while leaving the disc in place with cauderization and merely support that vertabrea with the new dynamic spring rods? Because I am hear to tell the FDA and the insurance companies that if they would support with the logic, we'd would prevail and they would actually save $ because patients would have better outcomes and not end up having more surgeries. The pain I am in is not hardly manageable anymore. We have our citizens gong out of country to get proceedures done because doctors here can't do the proceedures even though they are capable because if it's not FDA approved insurance won't pay. So we either search out clinical trails or we go out of country. When does it end? I can't be the only one angry or sad.

[Dave]

That is a correct application for that law. See below:

Wolf's law - definition of Wolf's law in the Medical dictionary - by the Free Online Medical Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

This can also be related to Adjacent Segment Disease, if I'm not mistaken.

IMHO, the FDA is can be a good thing, but in most cases it is nothing more than scandalous bureaucracy at it's worst.

Just my

[Gilbert P]

Hi Cheryl

I am with you and just about the FDA community. I live in a small mountain town and have to leave to get the best or out of country.

Gil

[cheryl stewart]

Thank you Dave for the link. I looked it up too. There are many references out there. But from what I have read and from my discussion with the device med. rep.; I believe this to be true.

[Kokanee]

Now anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong; but I believe that Wolf's Law would not apply to Artificial Disc Replacements (ADR) that allow full range of motion?

[cheryl stewart]

from what little i have read or been told, an ADF that allows for you still still keep your range-of-motion would lessen the risk of this. i wish i would have been able to have ADF. i wish i knew of someone who could go in take out my roi peek cage and replace it with an ADF. unforutnately, i have had three surgeries through the front and they cant keep going through that way, its to risky. let me know if you hear of anyone. thanks all! -cheryl

[Jack-of-all-trades]

I'm not opposed to this line of thought but it would seem that a reduction in the stressors could compensate for some of the increase in stress to adjoining joints. I'm thinking more about lumbar stress than cervical. I would think modifying lumbar stressors would be easier than cervical.

[Justin]

Now anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong; but I believe that Wolf's Law would not apply to Artificial Disc Replacements (ADR) that allow full range of motion?

Force is force. ADR wouldn't be "excluded" from Wolff's law.

I'm not opposed to this line of thought but it would seem that a reduction in the stressors could compensate for some of the increase in stress to adjoining joints. I'm thinking more about lumbar stress than cervical. I would think modifying lumbar stressors would be easier than cervical.

You're spot on. The distribution of force is altered in artificial disc replacement. Other spinal structures, particularly posterior elements of the spine (e.g., facet joints), are subjected to this altered distribution of force, which can lead to facet and ligamentous hypertrophy.

Just my

[cheryl stewart]

if anything, it gives those who have not yet had surgery something to consider. there are so many things i wish i would have been previed to prior to my first surgery. i feel that my surgeon let me down by not telling me all of the options. yes he told me about the usual surgical risk, but not about things like this. i did not have access to the i-net at the time. we didn't even have a computor until last fall. i have learn so much from this site alone. some doctors don't seem to like that. anyway, i am traveling to tulsa today to see my surgeon. i had an mri last week and he is going to review it with me. i will most likely need another ct myelogram. send prayers my way. God bless, Cheryl