'My whole life has changed'

The procedure helped lower back pain

A new procedure which eases back pain by heating up discs could replace painful surgery for some patients.

The technique, called intra-disc electrotherapy (IDET), heats nerve endings, making them less sensitive and blocking pain signals from the discs.

Here, one woman tells BBC News Online how the procedure has changed her life.

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Nicky, from the East Midlands, was just 30 when she started to suffer from back pain.

She said: "It came right out of the blue."

She suffered most when she was sitting down: "That gave me a tremendous amount of pain."

She was referred to a spinal surgeon who examined her back.

Nicky said: "He didn't see anything significant, just a minor disc bulge.

I couldn't stand up for more than 30 seconds to a minute

Nicky

"He said 'sorry, you'll just have to get on with it'."

Nicky then tried painkillers, and had three months of physiotherapy, but nothing helped.

"I went back to him and said something had to be done because I couldn't carry on like that."

He suggested spinal fusion, a procedure that involves fusing together two or more vertebrae in the spine using either bone grafts or metal rods.

Painful life

Nicky said: "At 30, that was not what I wanted to hear."

"He said the only other option was a pain management centre and learning how to manage pain."

She was sent to an anaesthetist and underwent a series of steroid injections in a bid to solve her problem.

The first one offered pain relief for a couple of weeks.

The second worked for around six months before wearing off.

Nicky's breakthrough was a specialist who said she should not have to suffer in the way that she was at her age.

"At this stage I was having a problem walking for more than five minutes.

"I couldn't stand up for more than 30 seconds to a minute."

Nicky had also had to give up her job.

I was having quite long periods where I was in no pain whatsoever

Nicky

It was at this stage doctors suggested the IDET procedure to her.

Doctors said it could help her, and she underwent the IDET in June last year at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

"Within a day or two's time the pain was less than it had been before.

"The improvement was quite noticeable.

"I was having quite long periods where I was in no pain whatsoever."

'Ability to perform'

She said the IDET treatment allowed her to undergo the intensive physiotherapy she needed, but which she had been in too much pain to do before.

"The IDET gives you the ability to perform the physiotherapy," she said.

"I was determined to give it my best shot because I didn't want spinal fusion."

Nicky is now well enough to take a university degree in environmental sciences.

She said: "This has altered my whole life.

"The only time have I ever have a problem is if I'm standing for more than 20 minutes or so.

"That's nothing - as soon as I sit down, it goes."