prodisc Patient Stories: Joe L. | Cervical Total Disc Replacement for Neck Pain | Disc Arthroplasty

Joe, a Medical Device Company executive, has always led an active athletic lifestyle-including playing sports, running, and hiking. Unfortunately, Joe believes the stress and strain placed on his neck during his years wrestling and subsequent years of fitness training led to a disc herniation in his neck.
Though being active and consistently exercising allowed him to manage the discomfort from the herniated disc for years, Joe was unable to manage the pain forever and in February of 2018, his symptoms went from bad to worse. One day, Joe went to push up from his desk and his left arm gave out. It was at this point Joe realized he was losing muscle strength and arm function and needed to seek a more permanent solution.
Soon after, Joe underwent a total disc replacement procedure with prodisc C and came home the same day. Immediately after surgery, Joe’s arm pain was gone. Despite some weakness in his left shoulder, he successfully worked to regain muscle strength over the next 3 months. According to Joe, “By 3 months post-op, I was 95% back to the way I used to exercise before surgery!”
Now, Joe feels 100% recovered and enjoys activities like running, hiking, and spending time with his family.
See the story of this total transformation.