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0 Comments | Daily Mail (London, England), The, Dec 1, 2009

Byline: JUDY HOBSON

ACTOR Richard Le Parmentier, 63, (best known as Admiral Motti from Star Wars) underwent a new treatment for his neck pain, as he explains to JUDY HOBSON.

THE PATIENT

THREE years ago, I was in Liverpool for a Star Wars convention and decided to use the hotel gym; I go regularly at home so I am familiar with all the equipment.

But this time something went wrong — while I was doing weights and pushing the bars up and down, I felt something at the back of my neck ‘go’. Then a sudden, sharp pain shot down my right arm.

By the next day the pain had worn off and I thought I had just cricked my neck. But ten days later I got pins and needles in my right hand. Over the next three months I gradually lost sensation in three fingers and the numbness spread to my arm.

Going to the gym became increasingly difficult and I had to stop altogether.

Six months later I began getting shooting pains in my right shoulder and down my arm.

It was really frustrating because I was writing a couple of film scripts, but by then I couldn’t type properly. Even writing by hand was difficult and I struggled to do up the buttons on my shirts.

I’m often invited to make personal appearances in Europe and America. But they were no fun any more, because I had to grit my teeth to get through them.

Looking back I should have gone to my GP earlier.

My doctor thought that I had rheumatoid arthritis and referred me to a specialist, but X-rays revealed it was a problem with discs in my neck probably triggered by doing something awkwardly in the gym.

Two of the discs in the vertebrae in my neck were pressing on my nerves, causing the pain and numbness.

I can see the irony in the fact that as Admiral Motti in the first Star Wars film I’d been choked by Darth Vader, and yet it was going to the gym that had caused me neck problems.

I was sent to a specialist. He said I could have spinal fusion, where they remove the damaged discs and then fuse together the surrounding bones with a bone graft. But I knew that you’re not always able to move around properly afterwards, so I decided it wasn’t for me. The specialist suggested I saw his colleague, Pro-fessor Steven Gill, who had invented a device that could replace damaged neck discs without affecting mobility.

Professor Gill explained I needed to have two devices implanted in my upper spine, through a small incision in my throat. He assured me my neck would still be flexible afterwards.

The day after surgery, last November, I was able to move my arm again. My throat was uncomfortable and sore where it had been cut, but this discomfort went after a month.

By Christmas I was typing away furiously and in January was back in the gym. Thanks to my operation I was also able to fly to America to pitch scripts and make personal appearances.

THE SURGEON

CONSULTANT neurosurgeon, Professor Steven Gill says: BY THE time we reach 60, all of us will have evidence of wear and tear in our necks, with some degeneration of the cervical discs between the vertebrae.

These changes are a normal part of ageing, known as cervical spondylosis. But in some susceptible people or those with occupations that repeatedly stress the neck, such as builders and removal men, these changes can occur earlier, even in the 40s.

Cervical discs allow movement of the neck and act as shock absorbers when we walk. They have a jelly-like centre contained in a capsule. Over time, some of the jelly dries out and the disc loses its shock-absorbing capacity.

Then two things can happen.

Either stress on the disc can cause its contents to rupture and press on the spinal cord or nerves supplying the arms, or the disc capsule can bulge, putting stress on the surrounding bone and making it thicken; this then compresses the spinal cord or nerves. The loss of shock absorption also puts increased stress on the vertebral joints, which become inflamed, painful and arthritic. Pressure on the cord causes clumsiness in the hands and even unsteadiness when walking; pressure on the nerves causes pain, tingling, numbness and sometimes weakness in the arms. Traditionally, spinal fusion has been used to treat the problem. While 70 to 80 per cent of patients achieve a good outcome in the short-term, fusion later fails in ten per cent of these patients. I developed a prosthetic neck joint called the Prestige. It has a unique way of sliding between the vertebrae and matching the movement of the patient’s disc.

The device has undergone rigorous testing in America. After two years, it was shown that patients who had the new disc were able to return to work quicker and had less pain than those who had a fusion. Furthermore, they needed fewer re-operations.

When I saw Richard, he was in pain and his hands were numb and increasingly clumsy. An MRI scan showed there were significant degenerative changes in the discs between the third and fifth vertebrae. The discs were pressing on his spinal cord and nerves supplying his arm. Without surgery, it’s likely the damage would have become irrecoverable. It is important to get treatment early. The operation is done under general anaesthetic. First, I made an incision under Richard’s chin. The vertebrae affected were behind the back of his throat and to get to them I had to push his windpipe to one side
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