My doctor wants to use a special heat treatment into the disc in my spine to help cut off the pain signals. Before I do this I want to know if there is any proof that this works?

Discs between the bones in the spine can protrude and press on nearby spinal nerves. Back and leg pain is the most common symptom. Sometimes numbness and tingling occur, too. These can be very disabling.

The medical community hasn’t found a way to treat this problem that works for everyone. Using intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET) as you described is one option. The results of this treatment aren’t clear yet.

Studies show it gives short-term relief to some patients. Scientists are trying to figure out if only certain patients do well this treatment. If so, who are those patients? Are they in a particular age group? Do they have just back pain or back pain with leg pain? Is the disc protrusion small or large?

More studies are needed to say for sure who would benefit the most from IDET.