Dr. David Mccord in Nasheville TN. is arguably the best back surgeon the world!!!

[VASCULAR VINCE]

The thrill of working hard to show improvement within myself has long been my dream and desire. For as long as I can remember, my ambition to be the very best at bodybuilding has always been ingrained in my soul. In the fall of 2008, I suffered an injury to my lower lumbar section which threatened my bodybuilding career and overall lifestyle. I blew out my L-5 and L-4 disk performing still legged deadlifts. I was out of work for several months and began suffering depression.
I was determined to find the best spine surgeon and rehabilitation therapy out there so I could get back on stage. As the old saying goes “everything happens for a reason.”’ In 2009 I went to a bodybuilding show in South Carolina with a friend even though I did not feel up to the task. The intense pain radiating into my lower extremities had taken control of my life to the point I could barely walk. It was there my luck changed for the better when I met up with Personal Trainer Ronnie Rowland out of Aiken South Carolina. Too my amazement this man had been through 10 lower back surgeries and was getting ready to walk on stage!!! From that point on, Ronnie was my inspiration and he guided me through e-mails on how to rehab my lower back, which supplements to take, and what doctor he recommended for the removal and fusion of my two ruptured disks.

Ronnie said “stay away from most physical therapy exercises because they only irritate the nerve roots further. I knew he was highly intelligent because many bodybuilder’s follow his SLIGNSHOT TRAINING SYSTEM. He gave me instruction on how to build the core indirectly while lifting weights in a controlled manner that supported my lower back after having had a painful, yet successful lumbar fusion By Dr.David Mccord in Nasheville Tennessee. Ronnie told me that David H. McCord, MD, was in his opinion the best spine surgeon in the world and I am also a believer!!!

Mccord is a board certified orthopedic surgeon from the United States, with outstanding expertise in the treatment of complex spine pathologies. A graduate of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, Dr. McCord received his medical degree from Cornell University in New York. He then completed an internship and surgery residency at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. McCord practices spine surgery in Nashville, Tennessee. He has also been actively involved with numerous professional organizations including, among others, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons; the North American Spine Society; the American College of Spine Surgery; and the American Medical Association. In addition, he has participated in numerous research projects, has given over one hundred presentations at major medical meetings and institutes worldwide, and many of his articles appear in peer reviewed publications.


The advice Ronnie Rowland gave me was correct and I am forever grateful to him and orthopedic Dr.David Mccord. My testimonial is that I believe Rowland is the best well rounded personal trainer in the world and Mccord is the best surgeon. Today I am back to doing what I love and I am virtually pain free. I feel like I have been handed a second chance at life.

[JohnnyVegas]

I read they other version of this post with interest...now it is just starting to feel like spam.

[lovbyts]

What do you mean other version? Bad vs Good? I have always had the idea to only do a Fusion as a LAST resort because there is not turning back.

I have had 2 back surgeries, 2005 & 2007. It taken years and I still have some discomfort but my back is slowly still getting better. I believe my doctor was very good also, Dr. David Remington in Renton Wa. My spam for the day. lol

[Ronnie Rowland]

What do you mean other version? Bad vs Good? I have always had the idea to only do a Fusion as a LAST resort because there is not turning back.

I have had 2 back surgeries, 2005 & 2007. It taken years and I still have some discomfort but my back is slowly still getting better. I believe my doctor was very good also, Dr. David Remington in Renton Wa. My spam for the day. lol

I'm sure your docotor was good but I wish Vinnie had not deleted this post but I can vouch that what he says is 100% true after having had 8 very unsuccesful surgeries on my lower back before finding Dr.David Mccord in Nasheville T.N. on 20-20 news were he had brought a lady out of a wheel chair who had severe scoliosis. She was in her 30's and my understanding is that it was the first time she had ever walked! That's the guy I went to see about my back and the rest is history.

Tn. I was in constant back/leg pain and all the so-callled top doctors (both othopedics and neurosurgeons) in my local area and around the workd in the word (for i.e. the Texas back institute, John Hopkins, Duke, Mayo Clinic, etc said there was no hope for my back condition, I would never lift weights again and that my pain would never be improved through surgery due to scar tissue build up around the nerve roots. Well guess what? It was all untrue! Dr. David Mccord went in and found that I had a no-union in my fusion and multiple bone spurs. That surgery was 17 years ago and it took some time to get over and began lifting but I eventually bounced back and began lifting heavy. At my biggest my arms were 22 inched pumped and I weighed 250 lbs at 5"9. I'm 46 years old now and have lost size and don't want to carry around that much weight because it's hard on the heart.

I just recently had another surgery done (4-level fusion) by Dr.David Mccord after having that 3-level fusion done by him 17 years ago. ThE disk on top of the 3 -level fusion wore out and he wanted to put cages in my whole fusion inorder to build my back straighter and stronger than ever before. Thank God for technology! When he went in and checked my nerve roots for scar tissue there was none!!! He said it was a combination of him doing a good job the last time he operated on me and me having worked out properly. After this last surgery he wanted me right back into weight training 3 months after the fusion was fully healed and I am doing just that except for my legs which will take more time due to nerve regeneration. Obviously I don't do heavy free weight squats, free weight rows or deadlifts and I train every body part in a manner that protects my back. Through trial and error over the years I have learned what to do and what not to do. This doctor is the only one I would highly recommnend for spinal fusion. He's that good at what he does!

Mccord will be the first to tell you not to get fused unless it's absolutely neccesary but if you ever have to go that route, want to lift weights again and work,I feel he's the best man for the job. He's that one hard to find doctor that is not afraid to fix all the other docotors screw ups because he actually knows what he is doing!!! I know I will always have some pain, especially if I lift heavy but how many people have you met (minus people in wheel chairs) who are able to compete in bodybuilding shows and actually win their division who have had 10 back operations? The answer is zero because I am the only one in the world that the judges and doctors know of who have been able to come back and accomplish this feat. I'll admit I am a very determined person when it comes to being able to lift weights and I have great faith in God, but I also know from past experience that God has given this man a gift when it comes to dealing with complex issues of the spine. Me and Vinnie are by far not the only ones who believe he's the best spinal fusion surgeon in the world. This was not a spam post it was a post of excitement and Vinnie is only trying to help others in need. In the next post I'll copy/past an interview with Dr.Mcccordr to show you he's the real deal.

Take care of those backs while lifting guys and gals!

Sincerely,
Ronnie Rowland

If you ever need your back fused he's the best in the world as far as I am concerned. He was trained by the best in the world (Art Steffe who retired a few years back).

[Ronnie Rowland]

If you know of anyone who needs their spine fused I highly recommend Dr.David Mccord located in Nasheville T.N. Some of his staff are lacking in their ability to return phone callls, etc, but he's an excellent surgeon and very polite.


Interview with Dr. David McCord, from the US, about the PERFX-2™ System


Dr. McCord, can we start this interview with a brief summary of your early days as a medical student and how you entered the world of spine surgery?

I attended medical school at Cornell University in New York City. It was an amazing experience intellectually, socially and culturally, that opened my eyes to the world and changed my perception of life forever. A great thing about studying at Cornell is that it is affiliated with Rockefeller University, the Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital, the Hospital for Special Surgery, and of course New York Hospital. Being in one of the premiere cities in the world, and studying in the largest biomedical institution in the country was definitely a fulfilling experience!


I then furthered my training at Duke University and quickly focused on the field of spine surgery. I found, as I still find it today, that spine was the most exciting area in orthopedics because so much research still needs to be accomplished. Spine care remains today a huge medical and social issue, with improving but still unsatisfactory results. The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel, as we appear to be on the cusp of a technological revolution with the incremental introduction of motion sparing technologies. It is very exciting to be a part of such an impactful endeavor.





Did you have a “hero” or a “mentor” who guided you through the complicated world of Science? If you did, what is the most important lesson you learned from that person?

Two names immediately come to my mind, Dr. Arthur Steffee and Dr. Paul McAfee. Paul provided me with solid foundations as a spine surgeon. He taught me the science of spine surgery, but also the importance of listening to patients to better understand their pathologies and make educated decisions. Art Steffee, as we all know, revolutionized spine surgeries in the United States. I had the privilege of working with him as a young spine surgeon involved with Acromed. He candidly shared with me his good and not so good experiences, teaching me so much in the process. In addition his insights on the art of spine surgery were invaluable, and I can honestly tell you that years later, there is not one day that goes by where I do not think about his teachings. One of his most endearing qualities was his ability to find common sense solutions to some of the most complicated scientific challenges. There is a lot to be said for common sense.





You have collaborated with many orthopedics organizations, working on motion sharing since the early 90’s. What did you learn from those experiences that led you to participate in the development of the PERFX-2™?

You are right. I have been a member of NASS since the early 1990s and of the American College of Spine Surgery for a decade. On the industry side, as I said earlier, I worked closely with Acromed on new technologies before the Depuy acquisition. As I have always been involved on the product development side of our industry, just like my esteemed colleague Dr. Fuentes, it is clear to me that only the synergy between industry and surgeons can lead to true innovations positively impacting patients.

What led me to the motion preservation arena are really two initial ideas. The first one came from my friend and mentor Art Steffee who often mentioned one of his common sense principles, which is that “fusion will surely remove pain and restore stability, but will also destroy the adjacent level.” The second one is that I have always had an interest in architecture and if you just look around, there is not one bridge or one building in the United States that does not apply load sharing principles to provide better resistance. So, it was clear to me early on in my career that similar load sharing principles had to be applied to the development of spinal technologies to make them more resistant, avoid breakage and work in harmony with the anatomy instead of against it. My first work on load sharing technologies was focused on semi-rigid cages. I then moved to semi-rigid plating systems, and working with Eden Spine gave me the opportunity to go one step further, and participate in the development of a new Dynamic Stabilization system.





What are the key biomechanical attributes that you want to see in a Dynamic Stabilization system? Do you believe that Eden’s PERFX-2™ system possesses those attributes?


Ideally, what all surgeons want to have in their hands is a technology that relieves pain while restoring the physiologic motion of the functional spinal unit, and in the process fight adjacent disc disease. Of course, totally restoring the natural kinematics of the diseased spinal segment is not feasible at this point in time, nature still does a job that we cannot reproduce, but if we could at least restore alignment to maintain load transmission and preserve some level of motion rather than totally eliminate it, it would be a substantial improvement. This is what we have tried to achieve with Eden Spine, and I am confident that the PERFX-2™ system is a step in the right direction.






If you had to summarize to another surgeon the rationale behind the PERFX-2™, how would you describe it?


First, the rationale behind my personal interest in dynamic instrumentations is purely common sense. The only way to remove pain and simultaneously maintain some level of functionality in the spinal unit is through motion preservation technologies. Yes, a fusion will remove pain in the great majority of cases, but in doing so, we remove functionality and just like it was not ideal to fuse knees and hips decades ago, it is not ideal to fuse spinal segments today. We all know why.

Having said that, we have a tough road ahead of us to get to the ideal solution, spine research is a science in development, but it is exactly why it is so fascinating and intellectually rewarding to be a part of. What we have done with Eden Spine is to develop a clinically relevant technology that restores the stability of the diseased motion segment, attempts to reproduce anatomical stress distribution and to provide unconstrained motion within the neutral zone, and controlled motion outside of the neutral zone.

If you allow me, I also would like to add an important concept which is the center of rotation. As you may know, it moves constantly and is even different for different age groups. To solve this issue, Eden’s engineering team has developed a proprietary dual spring mechanism designed to allow controlled motion in all planes, as well as provide some level of translation to allow the system to automatically find the center of rotation no matter where it is, no matter how old the patient is. This is a true innovation that has the potential to substantially improve patient care.





In your experience, what would be the ideal candidate for a Dynamic Stabilization implant and more specifically for the PERFX-2™?

For a single level posterior dynamic stabilization surgery, I would look for a patient with early disc degeneration with the disc at least 50% intact, limited or no facet degeneration and a healthy disc above.


I also consider that patients with a fused segment but a slightly degenerated adjacent level are candidates for a dynamically instrumented transitional zone in order to control the range of motion of the hypersollicated adjacent level. It will protect its longevity and potentially avoid adjacent disc disease. As we all know, 35% of fusion surgeries create adjacent disc disease.









You have been a pioneer in the world of spine surgeries since the early 90’s. Based on your experience, how would you compare the PERFX-2™ to other Dynamic systems?

It would be too long to do a comparative analysis, but I can tell you that I consider that the PERFX-2™ is truly a new generation posterior dynamic stabilization system. Eden’s R&D team has unparalleled experience in developing motion sparing technologies, and having experienced firsthand their global vision and understanding of the evolution of spinal technologies, I am confident that with the support of the surgeon team, they are advancing the art and science of spine surgery.






Looking back over your very long and distinguished career, which particular things in spine would you say gave you the greatest satisfaction?


The opportunity to interact with so many colleagues, as we pushed our field forward, always striving to improve the daily lives of our patients.



Thank you very much!





Orthopedic Surgeon, and co-developer of the PERFX-2 ™

David H. McCord, MD, is a board certified orthopedic surgeon from the United States, with outstanding expertise in the treatment of complex spine pathologies. A graduate of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, Dr. McCord received his medical degree from Cornell University in New York. He then completed an internship and surgery residency at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. McCord practices spine surgery in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been in private practice since 1991 and is licensed in 4 states: Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky and Georgia. He has also been actively involved with numerous professional organizations including, among others, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons; the North American Spine Society; the American College of Spine Surgery; and the American Medical Association. In addition, he has participated in numerous research projects, has given over one hundred presentations at major medical meetings and institutes worldwide, and many of his articles appear in peer reviewed publications.


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