Feb. 8, 00 -- Lisa Gleason can once again perform daily activities without cringing with chronic back pain.

Lisa Gleason, chronic back pain patient: "It became so I couldn't do anything twisting turning bending anything."

But Gleason was reluctant to undergo back surgery until she heard about the new surgical procedure called Intradiscal Electrothermal therapy. It gives patients an alternative without a major surgical operation.

Dr. Gordon Bainbridge, orthopedic specialist: "This is not indicated for people who have a herniated discs, where they have leg pain, but it's indicated for people who have a disk with a tear in it, or undergo a degenerative change."

This is how the procedure works: under local anthesthesia, Dr. Gordon Bainbridge inserts a needle into the disc.

Dr. Gordon Bainbridge, Orthopedic Specialist: "We then thread a heating coil into the proper position, and over 16 minutes, we heat this up to over 90 degrees centigrade. at that point, we're basically done."

For lisa the intradiscal electrothermal therapy was more appealing, not only does the surgery take less time and the recovery time was quicker, but the procedure itself is less risky.

Gleason still receives back therapy but says she saw immediate results after the surgery.

Lisa Gleason/chronic back pain patient: "I started feeling better 24 hours after the procedure, i kept getting better."

Much different than other operations, where patients were in the hospital for 3 to 5 days, and it took at least 3 months to heal.

Surgery is often the last option for most people. Most cases of back pain can be relieved with exercise therapy and medicine.