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Dr. Clayton Dean of the Maryland Spine Center at Mercy.

Dr. Clayton Dean Of The Maryland Spine Center At Mercy Discusses Cervical Fusion Of WBAL's "The Woman's Doctor"

People with neck pain that could potentially be a disc problem may need surgery instead of just medication, according to doctors. Those that have disc problems can feel neck pain that radiates down into their shoulders and sometimes into the arms or hand. Maria Korsnick is a busy woman — she's a mother of two and senior vice president at Constellation Energy — so when her thumb and forefinger started tingling, she knew something was wrong. "Some days I couldn't feel them at all. I had pain in my shoulder — not constant, like maybe I did too much yesterday," she said. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Clayton Dean of The Maryland Spine Center at Mercy said he knew which disc was Korsnick's problem before she had an MRI. She opted for surgery, even though she wasn't a candidate for the newer artificial disc replacement surgery. She had a two-level cervical fusion. "In between the screws are where we replaced the discs and took pressure off the nerves, and replaced the discs with bone grafts," Dr. Dean said. According to Dr. Dean, plate keeps the bone grafts in place and minimizes motion between the vertebrae. Korsnick's surgery was four days before Christmas. "I had to help Santa, so I had to get up and around. It really worked to my benefit. I recovered quickly," she said. She was back to work within two weeks.