Have you been advised to Consult a Spine Surgeon for your Back Pain? Have been Advised to undergo a Spine Surgery for Treating your Cause of Pain?
Here’s what you must be thinking :
Firstly, hearing this must have started you to WORRY & your apprehensions are making you sweat. Well, many friends & family members would come and talk to you about the “dark side” of Spine Surgery i.e. what all can possibly go wrong or it Complications and failures! No wonder that you are dead scared!
Well, this is the right time to get down to ‘Learning a Few Facts about this dreaded Spinal Surgery’ and what it is all about. Let’s try to clear a few cobwebs in your MIND.
First and foremost, let me tell you that this procedure of Relieving Pressure from the Spinal Nerves (one of the major Cause of Back/Neck & related Pain) and Giving Support to your diseased Vertebral Column (Spine) is centuries old! It gained popularity in the 1950s when Spine Surgeons performed this Surgery, to Treat Patients suffering the agony of Back Pain and Deformity, but Surgical Technology was not much advanced then.
Technological Advancements in the field of Spine Surgery Techniques started in the 1960s, which made performing Spine Surgeries much more Safer. Also, it expanded the horizons for Treating various Spinal Diseases & Disorders, which was not much possible earlier. In the 1970s, Neuroimaging became possible with the advent of CT scanners and MRI machines, which increased the level of Precision while performing the Spine Surgeries.
The 1980s and 90s saw the arrival of sophisticated Surgery Instruments like “Microscopes & Endoscopes, Fluoroscopy”, and Artificial Bone Grafting Techniques. This made Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (MISS) POSSIBLE. These Instruments & Techniques have also enhanced the level of Precision.
So, it is time to STOP WORRYING, and putting your Faith into a positive attitude towards the necessary Spine Surgery. Yes, like rest all other surgeries, even Spine Surgery does have certain Risks, but its Advantages overweigh its Risks i.e. by getting it done, you are likely to have following gains :
- The pain that is driving you crazy, giving sleepless nights and requiring large doses of painkillers, is the first to get relieved.
- The restrictions that were imposed on your daily activities will also ease out to a certain extent.
- Your depression will improve which will help Improve your work output as well !
The decision Spine Surgery arises when there is Pain &/or Spinal Instability because of :
- pressure on the Spinal Nerves that are enclosed within the Spinal Column and emerge from openings to reach their final destination in the body, OR
- you have an Unstable Joint/Fractured Vertebrae in your Spine.
To address to your above problems & give you the best result, your Spine Surgeon may Advise any or a combination of following Treatment Options :
- Spinal Fusion where 2 adjacent Vertebrae are joined to one another.
- Laminectomy/Laminotomy/ Foraminotomy , where a portion of Bone or Ligaments or the whole of it from a Vertebra is removed to take pressure off the Nerves.
- Discectomy, where the cushion (Disc) between 2 vertebrae is removed partially or completely when it is loose/bulged-out or degenerated.
- Disc Replacement, where the Disc is removed and replaced by an artificial Disc or a metal Implant.
There is a “Silver Lining to your dark clouds of Pain”. So go out all the way, talk to your Surgeon, discuss your fears frankly, so that you get the BEST RESULT!