MIAMI -- More than 65 million Americans experience low back pain. Now, a new surgical procedure is helping relieve the pain and shorten the recovery.

While some patients with low back pain get better with exercise and anti-inflammatory drugs others need surgery. For them, new developments in a minimally invasive procedure are offering great promise.

As a billing manager at a busy doctor's office, Tanya Keeley, 38, is used to going non-stop. When a herniated disc left her bed-ridden for four months, she says she could hardly stand it. "The pain I experienced was more painful than having two children. It's excruciating -- indescribable."

Keeley was a prime candidate for an innovative back surgery being performed at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Using 3-D imaging and special tools, the surgeon is able to get at the damaged disc without cutting through muscle.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Allan Levi says, 'We're not making a big incision in muscle or skin, they have less pain as a result, less pain medication."

Keeley says, "I noticed pain wasn't there after surgery. I tried to move my legs, and there was no pain."

Within a few hours of surgery, Keeley was back home and back on the job, her lower back pain a thing of the past.

The technical name for the procedure is micro-discectomy, and it's most effective for those with recent back and leg pain who haven't responded to physical therapy and medications.

For more information on the procedure, call (305) 243-2088.