Disk deterioration

Posted By Hope on August 30, 1998 at 16:49:29:







My father has a condition causing the disks in his neck to deteriorate.
This causes extreme, cronic (chronic) pain because the verterbrae are touching and
pinching nerves in his neck.  He has shooting pains down his neck,
shoulder, arm and into his hands.  He has talked to neurologists and
neurosurgeons.  He has been told that the only solution to the problem
is to fuse his verterbrae together through surgery.  
Doing this would restrict his mobility.  My father is a very active man.  
We would like to know if there are any alternatives to surgery.  
And, if there are, what are they?  He is 68 years old, but is in very
good health other than this problem.  He is, as I said, very active.  
He would like to stay active and we worry that this surgery would
greatly restrict his ability to function as he has been doing.
Henderson