Back surgery can be effective in alleviating some types of back pain, although it is seldom required because the majority of back pain will go away on its own around three months. Ailments such as low back discomfort are among the most often seen by family doctors. Nonsurgical therapies for back pain, such as anti-inflammatory drugs, heat, and physical therapy, are often effective in alleviating symptoms, but there are times when seeing an Orthopedic Spine Surgeon in New York is the only option.
Are You Going to Need Back Surgery?
Back surgery may be a possibility if conservative therapies have failed and your pain has become severe and disabling, as is the case with many people with back pain. Back surgery often and reliably improves accompanying pain or numbness that radiates down one or both arms or legs after the procedure.
The compression of nerves in your spine is a common cause of these signs and symptoms. It is possible for nerves to get compressed for a number of causes, which includes the following:
- Problems with the disk. Protruding or ruptured (herniated) disks — the rubbery cushions that separate the bones of your spine — can occasionally push too firmly against a spinal nerve, causing it to become inflamed and impair its function.
- Excessive bone formation. Bone spurs on the spine can develop as a result of osteoarthritis. A frequent location for this extra bone is at the hinge joints on the rear section of the spinal column, where it can constrict the amount of room available for nerves to travel through gaps in your spine.
Even though your X-rays reveal that you have disk abnormalities or bone spurs, it might be difficult to determine the particular source of your back pain and treat it effectively. X-rays obtained for different reasons frequently reveal bulging or herniated disks that do not produce any symptoms and do not necessitate medical intervention.
Several Kinds of Back Surgery
Back surgery may be classified into several forms:
Diskectomy
The most common kind of back surgery is a discectomy. This procedure involves the excision of the herniated section of a disk in order to alleviate irritation as well as swelling of a nerve. Diskectomy is a surgical procedure that includes the removal of the rear section of a vertebra (lamina) in order to get access to a damaged disk.
Laminectomy
Extraction of the bone that is above and below the spinal canal is required for this treatment. It is done to remove nerve strain associated with spinal stenosis by enlarging the spinal canal, and it is a minimally invasive procedure.
Fusion in the spine
This is a type of surgical procedure in the spine that permanently joins two or more bones in your spine, and this procedure can help to alleviate discomfort by providing more stability to a spinal fracture. When a deteriorated or damaged disk causes uncomfortable motion between the vertebrae, it is occasionally utilized to alleviate the discomfort caused by the motion.
Implanted artificial disks in the spine
The implanting of artificial disks in the spine is a therapy option for uncomfortable movement between two vertebrae caused by a deteriorated or damaged disk that is not as effective as spinal fusion, but, for the majority of people, these relatively new products are out of reach.
Several Signs That You Should Consult an Orthopedic Spine Surgeon New York
In order to treat anatomical problems that arise in either spinal instability or nerve pinching, low back surgery is only effective in certain circumstances. Depending on whether one of these abnormalities is detected on an imaging examination and whether the patient’s symptoms are consistent with the clinical as well as radiographic picture, spine surgery may be recommended in some cases. A patient’s low back discomfort may not be treatable if there is no apparent anatomic reason, for example, that may be detected on an MRI scan, standard flexion-extension films for instability, CT scan myelogram, or discography, in which case back surgery is not recommended. If non-surgical therapy fails to relieve a patient’s discomfort, this is not a sufficient reason to proceed with spine surgery in the first instance. Another need is that the patient’s low back discomfort is caused by an anatomical lesion that can be detected by a physician.
In virtually all cases, the patient is the one who makes the choice on whether or not to have back surgery for low back pain. Immediate medical intervention is only necessary for extremely rare circumstances, such as cauda equina syndrome or an abdominal aortic aneurysm. If the spine surgeon is competent, then she should be able to provide the patient with sufficient information regarding the procedure’s advantages and disadvantages in order to aid the patient in making an informed decision. If you have a spine problem, you should see either an orthopedic spine specialist or a neurosurgeon who specializes in back and neck pain management.
Before consulting with a spinal surgeon for chronic low back pain, people should consider the following important factors:
- Lower back discomfort and/or leg pain on a scale from 1 to 10. After a few weeks or months of treatments other than surgery, it may be necessary to consult with a spine surgeon if the pain has not been relieved. Pain is considered to be severe if for example when the pain did not disappear or had been relieved even when already using narcotic pain drugs, thus this should be evaluated by a spine surgeon as soon as possible.
- The ability to carry out daily activities while suffering from low back pain. Although the severity of low back pain and/or leg discomfort is significant, the patient’s capacity to carry on with daily activities is maybe even more crucial. – Considering spine surgery relatively soon may be a good idea if one is unable to do basic everyday functions such as going to work, driving to the store, and performing other activities of daily life.
An additional point to consider for patients is the extent of the spinal surgery being contemplated. There are several forms of back surgery, some of which are far less invasive such as microdiscectomy which is minimally invasive and does not even change the anatomy of the spine, as compared to most types of lumbar spine fusion surgeries which are more invasive and it changes the anatomy of the spine.