Surgery is usually a last resort when it comes to back pain. However, there are times when it’s the only option left to ease your symptoms. Here are a few signs you might be one of the 500,000 Americans who need to have back surgery every year.
Unless you’ve been severely injured, it’s common for doctors to ask you to wait to see what happens with your pain. In many cases, people who have acute back pain will see improvement in a few weeks.
Those whose pain stretches past the 12-week mark are said to have chronic pain that may need to be managed through different therapies like anti-inflammatory medications, steroid injections, epidural medications, and physical therapy. If none of that works, it’s typically time to explore surgical options.
Your spine is connected to the rest of your body through an intricate system of nerves. If you hurt your back but the pain is radiating to your limbs, it could indicate that the nerves in your spine are being pinched or compressed. Usually, this kind of injury will only be alleviated by surgery to release that pressure.
Having numbness or weakness is usually a sign that you need to see a doctor urgently. One issue that causes numbness is spinal stenosis – a condition in which the spine is narrowing.
Other symptoms that you might experience include loss of sensation in your feet, burning pain in your feet, and a decreased ability to walk long distances.
Numbness in your legs can also be caused by disc herniation, tumors, or infections of the spine. Fortunately, surgery can take care of all those problems.
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If your pain is significant enough to limit your mobility or change your level of physical activity, you need to talk to your doctor about your treatment options. The same is true if you’ve seen changes in the physical curvature of your spine or body. These are valid reasons to explore surgery.
Once your spine has been injured in a way that won’t be solved by any other measures, back surgery is no longer in question. In cases where there is a spinal fracture, your doctor is likely to try conservative treatments first. However, if the pain doesn’t get better, you usually need surgery.
There are some common types of back surgery that your doctor might recommend. The vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are procedures that repair compression fractures. They use bone cement to strengthen the bone.
A spinal laminectomy is used to correct the narrowing of the spine. In this procedure, a surgeon removes bone to open up the spinal column. If you have a discectomy, a surgeon would remove a herniated disc or one that’s compressing a nerve.
Another option is a foraminotomy where a surgeon enlarges the hole where a nerve root exits your spinal canal to release pressure on an affected nerve.
In a nucleoplasty, a plasma laser device is inserted into the spine that uses radiofrequency energy to vaporize tissue that’s causing a herniated disc.
Depending on your condition, your doctor may suggest spinal fusion. This procedure removes the spinal disc between two or more vertebrae and then uses bone grafts or metal devices to fuse the adjacent vertebrae.
Finally, artificial disc replacement replaces a damaged disc with a synthetic one.
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The main benefits of surgery are that it will ease your pain, improve your mobility, help any deformities that have developed, and help your injuries heal. As with all surgical procedures, though, there are a few risks. This type of surgery is considered risky because it’s so close to the nervous system. You run the risk of paralysis and infections at worst but permanent loss of flexibility at best. Certain procedures also come with longer healing times which means you will be significantly limited for long periods.
When you sit with your doctor to discuss surgery, there are a few questions you need to start with. These include information about which procedure is right for you, how it will help you, what the procedure entails, what the possible risks are, how you’ll know if the procedure has worked, and how long your recovery will take. You’ll also need to have a guideline for what your follow-up care will be like after surgery.
The decision to have back surgery isn’t an easy one. Sometimes, it’s the only option if you have certain symptoms or conditions. It’s best to talk to your doctor at length about what the suggested procedures entail so you know what to expect.
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