Treatment with a mixture of oxygen and ozone is ideal for cervical / thoracic / lumbar disc herniation. One of the great advantages is that it is a minimally invasive procedure, requiring only a needle that is inserted into the disc with local anesthesia, light sedation (as if you were going to do an endoscopy) and without the need for hospitalization.
Generally, 5 sessions are required (one per week) and in some cases more sessions are needed to improve pain. Surgical treatment is the last option, but it does not always achieve the expected results, with failures of 5 to 30%, according to reports with the need for new surgical interventions.
Non-surgical treatment
Scientific evidence for non-surgical treatment
In an article published in 2014, the researchers followed up between five to ten years after the use of intradiscal ozone in 180 patients and concluded that the treatment was effective in 75% of cases for more than 5 years. In non-surgical cases of disc or ozone treatment, it has also shown great superiority.
In 2012 scientists showed a significant improvement in pain compared to the use of anti-inflammatories in the 6-month follow-up period. It is important to remember that anti-inflammatory drugs can cause a series of side effects such as: bleeding in the stomach, intestines, kidney failure, increased blood pressure, among others. In elderly patients with back pain diagnosed with arthrosis / arthritis / spine degeneration, treatment with the oxygen / ozone mixture proved to be very safe and with good results.
Scientists in 2013 evaluated 172 patients with herniated discs who did not improve with conservative treatment (medication, physiotherapy, acupuncture, pilates, water aerobics, etc.) from 2005 to 2009. With Level I of evidence, they concluded that treatment with the mixture oxygen / ozone applied inside the disc (intradiscal) caused an excellent improvement of pain in the period of 12 months and recommend that the treatment of intradiscal ozone should be the first choice before indicating a herniated disc surgery or even in patients without conditions having surgery (decompensated diabetics, uncontrolled hypertension, heart failure, kidney failure, etc.).
A study evaluated 129 patients between 2004 and 2008 and showed that this treatment is ideal for elderly patients with back pain caused by degenerative diseases in the spine, without causing side effects, therefore a safe procedure.