Recovering From Back Surgery

Most people with back pain will have it resolved with the use of conservative treatments and therapies.

If you happen to be one of the few who have suffered with back pain that will not respond to any of the many conservative treatments available to you, you may need to decide if surgery is the next logical step to take on your road to relieving your back pain.

The goal of surgery should always be to relieve pain, prevent any further degeneration of the spine and allow the patient to live a more normal life. The two options for surgery are traditional open back surgery, an invasive spine surgery or minimally invasive surgery.

In tradition open back surgery, it is expected that the surgeon will need to make at least a five to six inch incision in the back to be able to see any of the affected areas. Due to this large incision a large part of the muscle will need to be cut open as well. Open back surgery also requires the use of general anesthesia, this leads to a greater risk that complication may arise. Invasive spinal surgery has many drawbacks associated with it, there are very high risks of complications, you will need to be hospitalized and there will be a very long recovery time. The recovery time could last weeks or even months.

Minimally Invasive Back Surgery

With advancements in medical technology minimally invasive spine surgery has become more widely available. This would be done using an endoscopic scope to minimize the incision needed and amount of damage done to the muscle that normally occurs during open back surgery. You can expect to have a scar of about one inch long compared to the 5 to 6 inch scar left from invasive spine surgery. The big thing that this surgery has over open back surgery is the shorter recovering time. It is normal for a patient to be released the same day as their surgery. There will be fewer traumas to the area allowing you to move onto the therapy stage faster, decreasing the time needed to go back to your regular routine.

And while minimally invasive surgery does have less risk attached to it there are still risks as with any type of surgery.

You must keep in mind that not all back surgeries can be performed using minimally invasive procedures and you make need to have open back surgery instead. Both open-spine surgery and minimally invasive surgery are something that you need to be comfortable doing. All these questions should be discussed with your physician to see what would best suit your needs.

When it comes to choosing a surgeon gather as much information as you can about them and the actual surgery they feel would benefit you the most. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get 2nd or even 3rd opinions. Remember though that your first opinion may have been the right one so do your homework and pick a doctor who cares about you and your pain and not just how much money they can get from you before moving onto the next person.