Avoiding Back Surgery with Chiropractic Care

Back surgery is a serious decision for those who deal with chronic back pain.  Invasive and requiring extensive rehabilitation, back surgery should be a last resort when other alternative treatments fail to bring relief.  Back surgery is not a guaranteed fix for what ails you, and many factors contribute to routine failure of back surgery to correct back problems.  All too often, follow-up surgeries are required when back surgery fails.  When it comes to back surgery, seeking a chiropractic evaluation before resorting to surgery might prove to be the smartest decision you have ever made.

Why do back surgeries often fail to fix the problem?

There are many reasons why back surgeries are often unsuccessful or have disappointing results.  Often, surgeons are operating on muscles and vertebrae that have been injured or otherwise damaged.  Scarring on the nerves, joints and tissue can lead to complications that are out of the surgeon’s hands.  In some cases, spinal fusion surgeries, which lock up a portion of the spine, are successful in eliminating pain from an injury, but lead to future aches and pains in other areas of the back because of the fusion surgery itself!  The health of the patient can also influence the outcome of back surgery, and recent research indicates that smoking puts patients at high risk for unsuccessful back surgery. [1]

Back surgery failure is so common that it has been termed Failed Back Surgery Syndrome, or FBSS.  Statistics show that nearly 40% of back surgeries fail! [2] Back surgery is always a risky procedure with unreliable outcomes.  No matter how skilled or experienced a surgeon is, each case presents its own unique problems that may lead to less than stellar results.

How can chiropractic care help me avoid back surgery?

Chronic back can have a tremendous impact on every aspect of your life.  Restricted movement can limit your involvement in the sports you love, sap your strength and diminish your enjoyment of life.  It is natural to want a “quick fix” for chronic back pain, but back surgery is not always the answer.  Thankfully, chiropractic care offers proven, permanent relief for back pain and can help chronic pain sufferers avoid surgery and get back to enjoying active pain-free lives.

Spinal alignment is very important for back health.  Achieving proper spinal alignment can provide permanent relief for many back pain issues and prevent future damage caused by misaligned vertebrae.  After an injury, chiropractic adjustments can restore optimal function to the spine and encourage proper healing without surgery.  Back pain related to overuse, repeated movements or just normal “wear and tear” can also be corrected and health can be restored to the back through non-invasive chiropractic care.

Our goal is to help our patients enjoy active, pain-free lives by caring for the health of their spines with gentle, effective, non-surgical chiropractic care.  We encourage anyone considering back surgery to take the time to investigate the proven relief of chiropractic treatments as an alternative to risky and painful back surgery.  Chiropractic care is changing lives.  Back pain patients owe it to themselves to learn more!

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed_back_syndrome

[2] http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/diseases.asp?did=898&title=Failed-Back-Surgery-Syndrome-(FBSS)