DENVER -- For years doctors have been doing total knee and hip replacements. Now the idea of replacing a joint with an artificial material is helping people with back problems.

Anita Deshommes loves spending time with her children. But three years ago she was in a car accident that changed her life.

"Bending over, I felt a stabbing pain going up my neck," she said.

The pain was so bad she decided to undergo artificial disc replacement surgery.

"Disc replacement surgery is an exciting new era in treating patients with complex spine problems," said Dr. Michael Janssen with the Center for Spinal Disorders.

He is one of a handful of doctors who is doing this type of surgery.

During the process, he removes the injured or diseased disc and replaces it with a moving joint made of plastic and metal.

"The exciting part about disc replacement is it allows one to keep the movement between vertebras rather than eliminating the movement which is what we do historically with a fusion," said Janssen.

Deshommes is happy this was an alternative she was able to have.

"I can lean over without shooting pain going up my neck, which is awesome," she said.

Five weeks after the surgery Deshommes still has some pain but is able to do things she hasn't done in years, such as empty the dishwasher.

"I just have a little more hope now that I am not going to spend the rest of my life in pain," Deshommes said.

Only one artificial disc for the lower back is approved by the Federal Drug Administration right now. Janssen also said the primary risk is that doctors don't have long-term results on the disc replacement, though he suspects the artificial discs should last 20 years or longer.

For more information on artificial disc replacement visit ArtificialDisc.com or contact the Center for Spinal Disorders at (303) 287-2800 or visit CenterForSpinalDisorders.com.