Health Link 2006-07
Back Pain Treatments
Airs:  Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 7:30pm
Repeats:  Sunday, February 4, 2007 at Midnight

The spinal column is one of the most vital parts of the human body, supporting us and making all of our movements possible. But when the spine is impaired the consequences can be painful, even disabling.  On the next Health Link we'll examine the most common troubles affecting our backs and the latest treatments including the X-STOP to treat lumbar spinal stenosis. 

Kara Enis, PT
Ms. Enis is a Physical Therapist in practice at The Albany Center for Pain Management

Allen L. Carl, MD
Dr. Carl has been on the staff at Albany Medical Center for 18 years and is a professor of orthopaedic surgery and pediatrics.  He practices at the Capital Region Orthopaedic Group located in Albany, NY.  Dr. Carl focuses his expertise in the area of complex spinal diseases and disorders. His clinical and patient care interests are complex spine disorders including: spine trauma, spinal cord injury, scoliosis, spine deformity, disc herniation, and degenerative and arthritic diseases of the spine.  Dr. Carl has also been involved in innovative developments. He has contributed to 5 patents, some undergoing commercial development. He is also working on projects involving disc repair and disc replacement.  After completing his orthopaedic training at New York University-Bellevue, he went on to a spinal surgery fellowship at Toronto General Hospital.  Dr. Carl is involved in research, education, and direct patient care. He has lectured nationally and internationally on topics involving spine disorders.  He has published more than 50 papers and book chapters and is Associate Editor of The Spine Journal and Spine Deformities: The Core Curriculum.  Dr. Carl has been cited for the past 10 years in the Best Doctors in America.  Dr. Carl serves on the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Board. 

Kathy Hayward, PTA
Mrs. Hayward is a physical Therapy Assistant in practice at The Albany Center for Pain Management.

Edward H. Scheid, Jr, MD
Dr. Scheid is a neurosurgeon at Capital Region Neurosurgery located in Slingerlands, NY.  Dr. Scheid spent several years training at the Delaware Valley Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center, a national center of excellence for the treatment of spinal disorders, where he perfected his techniques in spinal surgery and had the unique opportunity to learn from world class neurosurgical and orthopaedic spine surgeons.   Dr. Scheid is interested in the management of all disorders of the brain, spine, and peripheral nerves, but has special interest in complex spinal disorders, brain tumors, aneurysms, and minimally invasive spine and brain surgery.  Dr. Scheid has authored a chapter dealing with the material properties of spinal implants as well as several abstracts on aneurysms and cerebrovascular surgery.  In addition, he has authored an article on early tracheostomy in cervical spinal cord injury, which appeared in the January 2004 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery-Spine.  His research interests include traumatic cervical spinal cord injury and the pain generating mechanisms involving dorsal root ganglia.  Dr. Scheid is a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the American Medical Association.

Richard Lenihan
Richard is the first person in the Capital Region to undergo a new minimally invasive surgical procedure at Albany Medical Center called X STOP, which successfully eliminated his pain.  The surgery took about 45 minutes and 15 minutes later he was able to walk.