Why Spinal Surgery Should Be Your Last Option

A survey states that every year, more than 80,000 Americans suffer due to back surgery failure. In spite of having one or more spinal surgeries, they continue to suffer from chronic low back pain. Moreover, many of these patients also experience depression, brought on by continued disability. And the term commonly used to describe this condition is called failed back surgery syndrome.

Statistics reveal that many back surgeries successfully eliminate pain as intended. However, the failure rates lie between 10-40 percent. Most of the back problems can be treated with non-surgical treatments, like anti-inflammatory medication, ice, heat, osteopathic manipulation, spinal injections, and physical therapy. But when conservative treatment options do not provide enough relief, back surgery might be an option.

So consider it as an option, a last resort because it does not help with every type of back pain. Back surgeries are typically needed in a small percentage of cases such as tumor, infection, cauda equine syndrome, or trauma that causes damage to the spinal cord. But the truth is that these situations are truly rare.

What are Different Types of Lower Back Surgeries?
• Discectomy

It involves removal of herniated portion of a disk to help you relieve from irritation and inflammation of a nerve. It usually involves full or partial removal of the back portion of a vertebra in order to get access to the ruptured disk.

• Laminectomy

This surgery involves the removal of the bone that is superimposed on the spinal canal. The bone overlying enlarges the spinal canal and the surgery is performed to relieve nerve pressure caused because of spinal stenosis.

• Fusion

The procedure of spinal fusion is performed to permanently connect two or more bones in your spine. This surgery helps you relieve pain by adding stability to a spinal fracture. However, it is occasionally used to eliminate painful motion between vertebrae that can result from an injured disk.

• Artificial Disks

Planting artificial disks are a treatment alternative to spinal fusion for painful motion between two vertebrae because of an injured disk. But this surgery is not an option for most of the people.

A recent report by a federal organization, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, found that in 2007, 27 million adults reported problems in their back with $30.3 billion spent on the treatments to get relief from pain. And the truth is that a big chunk of it pays for spine surgeries.

Complicated spine surgeries that involve fusion of two or more vertebrae are on the hype and over the years, there was an eight-fold jump in these types of surgeries. For some patients, need for spine surgery and fusion is necessary and the main concern is that it has gotten way beyond what is reasonable or necessary.

But do you know that Our Body is designed to Heal Itself?
The power that made our body heals our body. Did you know that your body makes 2.5 million RBCs every second and 250,000 WBCs every second? There are around 50-75 trillion cells in a human’s body and our nervous system controls them all. We all have an incredible body which is formed by our body’s inborn intelligence and tremendous healing power. All such processes and functions work in sync to keep our health in complete equilibrium. And this is what is natural. As long as we work according to the laws of nature, our bodies will heal themselves naturally. However, there is one element that interferes with our body’s ability to heal itself and that interference is stress. The stress creates an imbalance between ours structural, biochemical, emotional, and energetic systems. But when your body regains that balance, the benefits you can experience includes:

Pain relief
SEnhanced quality of life
Improved energy
And all this can be accomplished by making healthy lifestyle choices and receiving the care you actually need.

Seeing a Physical Therapist is Must before You Go for Surgery
A survey by American Physical Therapy Association states that around 37% of people admitted that they don’t seek a professional help for back pain. Most of the people suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives, but many of them do not realize they can prevent the condition with the help of a physical therapist. A research by Cleveland Clinic states that around 95% of herniated disc patients would not need surgery is they addressed their symptoms with a therapist who could help them with the healing of the injured area. For patients who suffer from back pain, physical therapy comes itself as proven and cost-effective and, for most of the people, should consider the first treatment option.

If you are like most of the people, you are going to suffer from back pain at some point of your life. And knowing the treatment options will create the difference in how you approach it. The significant part is not to get discouraged and talk to your physical therapist to plan a course for you that will benefit you the most.