Innovative Treatment for Neck Pain

When a nerve in your neck is compressed by a bone or bulging spinal disc — the soft material between spine bones (vertebrae) — microscopic posterior cervical foraminotomy can relieve pain and other symptoms, such as tingling or numbness.  

Our USC Spine Center surgeons use this innovative, minimally invasive neck pain surgery. It requires just a tiny incision in the back of your neck. Your surgeon removes part of a bone or disc, depending on what’s pressing on your nerve. The surgery creates more space for the nerve, relieving your pain. 

Microscopic posterior cervical foraminotomy recovery time is much quicker than with traditional, open surgery. The incision is small, so there’s less tissue damage, pain and scarring. 

We use this neck surgery to treat people with a small or moderate herniated disc or only a small area of bone pressing the nerve. This approach may not be right for those with severe neck pain, large herniated discs or neck curvature problems, like cervical kyphosis.

How Microscopic Posterior Cervical Foraminotomy Works