How to Get Care. You can ask for a referral from your primary care doctor, your mental health care provider, or your health plan. In some plans, you may be able to make an appointment directly with a mental health care provider.
Patients with bigger defects or who have failed other types of surgery may be eligible for allograft transplants of donor bone and cartilage (Figure 3). In this method, cartilage defects are treated with tissue that is donated for transplantation, much like a liver or heart transplant.
Many surgical procedures can be performed using minimally invasive techniques (meaning less cutting and entering the body). These techniques result in smaller incisions, shorter hospital stays, less pain after surgery, and a faster recovery. The most typical surgery for a herniated disc is a discectomy. This is a surgical procedure that removes all or part of the damaged intervertebral disc. If the problem is in the neck, this procedure is usually done through the front and is called an anterior discectomy (described in more detail below).