Told you need a neck fusion?
There is another option, and it keeps your neck moving. Find out in two minutes whether it fits you.
We help a specific kind of patient. Here is how to tell.
You may be a candidate if
- A surgeon has told you that you need a neck fusion
- Pain, numbness or weakness travelling from your neck into your shoulder, arm or hand for three weeks or more, or sooner if it is getting worse
- Mainly neck pain for at least three months, after trying physical therapy or anti-inflammatories
- You want to keep turning your head
- You can make one trip to Park City, Utah
It may not be the right time if
- Neck pain on its own, without arm symptoms, has lasted less than three months
- For neck pain alone, you have not tried physical therapy or anti-inflammatories yet
- Your neck pain has not been worked up or imaged
If your main problem is the lower back, say so early and we will point you to another specialist.
We would rather tell you no than treat you wrong.
See if you're a candidateFive steps. One trip. Then back to your life.
The Call
A call with our patient team. No obligation, no charge. We learn your story and tell you honestly whether Dr. K can help.
The Consult
Your consult with Dr. K, by video or in person. He reads your imaging and your story. If surgery is not the answer, he says so.
Masters Spine is a concierge-level practice. Your first consult with Dr. K is self-pay. If surgery is the right answer, we offer a self-pay price and, when possible, work with your insurance.
Our team shares the consult price when you talk, and it is collected before your visit.
The Trip
One trip to Park City, Utah. Travel, lodging and scheduling arranged for you.
The Procedure
A few hours, with a team Dr. K hand-picked over a career.
The Return
Recovery guided the whole way, not handed off at the door.
"When my neck was on the line, I did what I would recommend for my own patients."
Dr. K has served as a Lead or Principal Investigator in six pivotal FDA clinical trials evaluating next-generation disc replacement technologies.
Dr. K performed the first procedure in the United States with a next generation cervical disc built on industrial grade diamond technology, as part of an ongoing FDA clinical trial.
Over two decades of experience and thousands of artificial disc replacements.
In 2024, Dr. K needed this procedure himself. He tried therapy, injections and time first, the way he asks every patient to. When those failed, he chose artificial disc replacement over fusion.
Lead or Principal Investigator.
Over two decades of experience and thousands of artificial disc replacements.
Motion preserving spine surgery.
Dr. K chose artificial disc replacement for his own neck.
Fusion locks your neck. Replacement keeps it moving.
The disc is the hinge.
Between each bone in your neck sits a disc. When one wears out, it can press on a nerve. That is the pain in your neck, your arm, your hand.
Fusion removes the disc and locks the bones together.
The pain often goes. So does the motion at that level, permanently. The levels above and below take the strain.
Replacement swaps the disc and keeps the hinge.
The worn disc comes out. An artificial one goes in. The nerve is freed, and your neck keeps turning. The level keeps moving.
It is not experimental. It is the option many people are never offered.
Two decades of U.S. trial data stand behind it. Repeat surgery: 3 to 4 times less likely than fusion.
We will not recommend surgery we do not believe will help you.
The first rule of this practice. Surgery is always the last resort.
Straight answers, from the surgeon.
Take your time. We'll be here.
A few short questions, about two minutes, and we will know whether Dr. K should look at your imaging. You get a straight answer either way.