LEAD: Pierre Larouche, who has been out of the Ranger lineup since Oct. 28 with a lower back strain that has been traced to a damaged disk, will undergo further tests today.

He underwent surgery to remove a damaged spinal disk, but back problems continued to hamper his play.

"Heat could be used to shrink the damaged disk that is compressing the nerve and to stabilize the disk to prevent it from further deteriorating," she said.

Ms. MacPeek's neck still aches even though surgeons transplanted three bones from a cadaver into her neck in an attempt to repair damaged disks.

Learn some tricks on how to repair a damaged floppy disk on The Science Channel's "It's All Geek to Me."

By some estimates, as many as 30,000 back operations a year are performed in the United States to remove damaged disks and fuse the spine back together to reduce a patient's lower back pain.

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He played just 43 games last season before undergoing surgery on Sept. 15 to repair a damaged disk in his lower back.

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