Why back surgery should be avoided?

Back pain is getting extremely common and the majority of people experience back pain at least once in their lives. Back pain usually can be treated and prevented by some simple home treatments, But a few types of back pain won't go away and some individuals are living with severe pain in their back and think about back surgery. Is back surgery effective treatment? In most cases the answer is "NO", but why back surgery should be avoided?

If you are thinking about back surgery, before making up your mind read this article to come to a better conclusion.

What is causing pain in your back?

 Back pain affects people of any age, even school-age children might experience back pain in their lives for different reasons.

The back is exclusively composed of muscles, bones,  ligaments, tendons, and disks. This complex structure works together to support the whole body and helps us to move. Several reasons could cause back pain but the reasons are usually connected with one of the components of the back.

The causes of back pain can be categorized into three groups: strain, structural problems and movement.

Strain

 Back pain is commonly caused by tension, injury, or strain. There are some  improper activities that cause spasm or strain . As an example, lifting something which is very heavy or lifting it improperly could cause spasm in the muscle  or strain.

Structural problems

There are some structural problems which culminate in back pain. The examples include: Ruptured disks, Bulging disks, Arthritis, Osteoporosis and kidney problems(kidney infection or kidney stone).

Movements and posture

Some daily activities or poor posture can cause back pain.

Here are some important examples:

Sneezing or coughing

Twisting

Muscle tension

Sitting or standing in one position for a long period of time

Pulling, lifting, pushing, or carrying something heavy

Driving without a short break

Over stretching

Straining your neck forward, especially when you are driving or using a computer

Sleeping on a bed that keep the spine straight

Also some medical conditions can result in back pain. These medical conditions include: spine cancer, spine infection, cauda equine syndrome, shingles, and sleep disorders.

When is necessary to see a doctor

You should immediately pursue medical help and see a doctor when you feel numbness in the legs.

It is better to see a doctor when your back pain doesn't relieve after some rest, because typically back pain will go away after some rest at home within a week.

Whenever you have fever, sudden weight loss, weakness with your back pain, it is time to see a doctor.

Treatments for back pain

 As it was mentioned above, back pain relieves with home remedies and rest , but sometimes after days of resting you don't feel improvement, so at the time medical treatment is necessary. Some examples of medical treatment include:

Medication

Through home treatments, patients take some pain relief medications, such as ibuprofen. When the patients don't feel better in their back, hydrocodone or codeine might be prescribed for short periods.

Physical therapy

heat, ice, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation along some muscle-release techniques can ease the back pain. Individuals with back pain might be inspired by the physical therapist to do some strength exercises and some techniques to improve posture.

Cortisone injections

When medication and physical therapy do not alleviate the back pain, these might be injected around the spinal cord. These injections  help to reduce inflammation around the nerve.

Botox

Botox is also called botulism toxin, decreases the pain by paralyzing muscles that are sprained. These injections are usually effective for almost 3 to 4 months.

Do you need back surgery?

 Back surgery is still a dilemma, but there are some signs you need back surgery.

Surgery in the back is the last option when other conservative treatments do not work properly but surgery for back pain is a rare option.

Back surgery usually eases the pain that causes numbness in arms or legs. Commonly disc problems or overgrowth of bone result in numbness that goes down in the legs which might need surgery.

Is back surgery worth it?

 In the USA above 300 thousand back surgeries are undergone every year. About 10% to 39% patients' pain might continue or even get worse after the back surgery. This condition is called failed back surgery syndrome. Before having back surgery you should consider  the failed back surgery statistics all around the world. In the USA, around 80,000 new cases of failed back surgery syndrome are increased every year.

Spine surgery may clearly provide quick pain relief and functional recovery for patients but there are many downsides and side effects that can not be ignored.

If the patient feels pain after the surgery, it is very difficult to treat pain after the back surgery. Many patients are forced to live with pain in their back for the rest of their lives along with a severe disability.

If you haven't made up your mind whether to have back surgery or not, there are several articles in this website about spine surgery which include more detailed information, so stay with Health News Center.

References : mayoclinic ,webmd ,spine-health , medicalnewstoday , bjmp, versusarthritis, medicinenet