Most bone, joint and/or muscle pain requires no surgical intervention. Instead, it can often be treated with physical activity, lifestyle modifications and a focused commitment to taking care of one's health. My patients are often relieved to find out that they don't need spine surgery.
While surgery might seem like a good way to relieve chronic back pain, in most cases surgery is not “needed”. In fact, for many people spine surgery is not successful and it can result in ongoing or even increased pain. Nevertheless, there are limited times when surgery is the right option.
One of the primary reasons why back surgery should be avoided is the risk. All surgeries carry the risk of infection, excessive bleeding, and nerve injury. Not to mention many people don't like being put under general anesthesia or that they may have to use potentially addictive pills to manage the pain after surgery.
As with all types of surgery, there's a risk of dying during or after lumbar decompression surgery, although this is rare. A blood clot, a bad reaction to the anaesthetic and blood loss can all be life-threatening.
For patients who are very old, spine surgery may not be the best option. Even minimally invasive surgery requires time for the body to heal itself. Some elderly patients, especially those who suffer from other conditions, are simply not up to the recovery required, and are better off with non-surgical treatments.
Depending on the condition the surgery is treating, spinal fusion has a 70 to 90% success rate.
Some signs that indicate it's time to consider spine surgery can include: Pain that is persistent and progressive. If the pain caused by a back condition lingers beyond a few months and/or appears to be getting progressively worse. Numbness, tingling, weakness.
Bad experience in family/friends undergone spine surgery
People might have observed paralysis after surgery, which is very rare. Some other complications of spinal surgery are nerve injuries, facial sores vision loss, blood clots, and infection commonly observed.
“If back pain is interfering with quality of life, your ability to work or isn't responding to standard treatments, then surgery may be called for.”
Spinal Instability and your pain issues
We don't like to recommend spinal fusion because it does not, in many cases, correct the underlying problems of lumbar spinal instability as many people would think it would. In fact, spinal fusion surgery may increase spinal instability and degeneration.
Myth #3: Recovery from spine surgery is unbearably painful.
In general, pain is usually the worst during the first one to three days after the surgery. After that, it should begin to subside. You may feel some mild to moderate pain for up to six weeks after the surgery, but you should not feel severe pain.
Operating on the spine involves performing surgery near the spinal cord and nerve roots. Potentially, damage could occur to these structures, even damage severe enough as to lead to paralysis. However, severe side effects paralysis after back surgery is exceedingly rare, to the tune of 1 in tens of thousands.
Spinal surgeries are risky procedures, and research suggests that up to 90 percent of them are unnecessary.
On average, back surgery recovery takes 12 weeks. However, it can take up to six months for your back to fully heal, depending on the correction.
A traditional spinal fusion surgery with general anesthesia takes about four hours and requires a hospital stay of three to four days as well as IV painkillers. The awake spine surgery takes half the time and typically has patients out of the hospital within 24 hours.
It is not uncommon for these patients to wait 3-6 months for a consultation, and then another 6-12+ months for surgery. Spine patients are usually stuck on the public waiting list because they do not have Private Health Insurance, or cannot afford to pay for elective Private Hospital surgery in their home country.
Even people requiring bigger surgeries like spinal fusion are 90% likely to return to work and stay at work long term. While most people recover from back pain through exercise and healthy lifestyles, those who require surgery can expect to return to work and "get their life back" too.
You'll usually be able to go home about 1 to 4 days after your operation. How long you need to stay in hospital will depend on the specific type of surgery you had and your general health. When you get home, it's important to take things easy at first, gradually increasing your level of activity every day.
Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) is a type of surgery on the bones of your spine (backbone). This type of surgery uses smaller incisions than standard surgery. This often causes less harm to nearby muscles and other tissues. It can lead to less pain and faster recovery after surgery.
That being said, there is no ultimate age cutoff for spine surgery eligibility. Many patients aged 20 and younger have successfully undergone spine surgery and returned to an active life.
A L4–L5 disc bulge (or slip-disc) in the L4-L5 region can cause severe health issues such as impotence and reproduction issues. It can also lead to infertility, loss or control of the bowel or bladder, paralysis in one or both of your legs, and even death.
With general anesthesia, you're “asleep” during surgery. More accurately, you're unconscious: your brain won't respond to pain signals or reflexes, so you won't wake up during your procedure. For awake spine surgery, you get spinal anesthesia, a type of regional anesthesia.
Cervical Disc Replacement (CDR), especially in the cervical spine, is an excellent alternative to a fusion. Like a fusion, artificial disc replacement alleviates nerve pressure from disc degeneration or herniation.