Back Pain Surgery?

Back Pain Surgery

Pain is unavoidable, especially physical pain, as you continue to age. 

Back pain is a common debilitating occurrence in people in the Western world, affecting about 60 to 80 percent of people in Western countries. If the pain lasts only a day or two, it is most probably due to muscle spasm and strain. However, if the pain is intermittent and continual, it may be attributed to disk degeneration, resulting in the vertebrae crushing against each other, and hence damaging the nerves along the spine.

Avoid surgery in treating back pain for various reasons:

Back pain surgery to remove a disk is a very invasive procedure, with various complications.

1. Surgery does not stop or reduce back pain.

2. Research studies have shown X rays, CT scans, and MRIs on more than 20 percent healthy individuals with no back pain having protruding disks and other problematic abnormalities. These findings indicate that back pain may be more than just back problems requiring surgery.

3. Without surgery, damaged disks may often improve by themselves. Even tissue having herniated out from the interior of a disk may be reabsorbed on its own.

4. Surgery may not be necessary in many cases, except where nerves may be damaged. A recent review of eleven countries showed that surgery rates are determined not by how badly operations are needed, but by the availability of orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons, with the United States at the top of the list.

There are certainly other options in treating back pain, such as using back exercises and improving posture through correct breathing. Remember, back pain is often due to stress.

Primal Stress is an innovative exercise program for stress relief, especially coping with back pain.

Stephen Lau 

Copyright © by Stephen Lau