Back pain is one of the most common types of chronic pain in the United States, affecting millions of Americans. If you are living with excruciating back pain, you might be thinking about back surgery to get rid of your pain once and for all.
However, you cannot decide between undergoing a knife to relieve your back pain alone; instead, your back doctor will help you decide on the treatment most suitable for you after a thorough evaluation.
Let’s talk about when back surgery is necessary and when not and where you can join Lone Tree, CO, to get yourself evaluated for back pain treatments.
Back Pain Doesn’t Always Require Surgery
Having back pain doesn’t always mean you need surgery. In fact, most back pains don’t warrant surgery.
Back pain with no structural abnormality of the spine can be treated with nonsurgical treatment modalities like:
- Rest
- Ice
- Heat
- Diet and lifestyle modifications
- Medications, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants, opioids, etc.
- Cortisone shots
- Physical therapy
- Alternative treatments, such as electrical nerve stimulation, acupuncture, massage therapy, etc.
Even if you have sustained some serious injury to the spine, your back doctor won’t recommend back surgery unless you try nonsurgical treatment first.
Condition When You Need Back Surgery for Your Back Pain
Back surgery is great at relieving some serious causes of back pain. It predictably relieves the back-associated pain and numbness that goes down one or both legs or arms.
Typically, your back doctor knows your symptoms and runs some tests to give you a diagnosis. Back surgery is your option when you have:
- A herniated or slipped disk that isn’t getting better on its own
- A broken bone or dislocated bone in your spine
- Bone spur in your spine that is putting pressure on a nearby nerve
- A tumor on the spine
- Infection of spine
- Degenerative conditions of the back, such as spinal stenosis
Back surgery is also considered the first treatment choice when you experience severe, unrelenting back pain with associated symptoms like foot drop, lost bladder or bowel control, etc.
Types of Back Surgeries
Your back doctor recommends the back surgery type depending on the cause of your pain. There are different types of back surgeries. Some of these are:
- As the name suggests, this surgery involves partial or complete removal of the slipped disc to relieve your back pain.
- This type of back surgery is performed to remove the bone underlying your spinal canal. Laminectomy relieves the pressure on nerves caused by spinal stenosis (narrowing of spinal space).
- Spinal fusion. Spinal fusion is performed to permanently connect two or more bones of your spine to give your spine stability.
- Disk Replacement. As an alternative to spinal fusion, disk replacement surgery involves replacing the degenerated or injured disk.
Back Surgery in Lone Tree, CO
If you have severe back pain and are seeking a lasting solution, trust our spine surgeons at Front Range Spine and Neurosurgery. Our surgeon will thoroughly evaluate your back condition, run some tests, and develop a treatment plan. Prior to recommending any surgery, our back surgeons ensure that you try all possible nonsurgical treatments. If they determine that traditional nonsurgical treatments are no longer effective at relieving your back pain, only then you will be recommended back surgery.
To make an appointment with one of our back surgeons, call us today at (303) 790-1800, or fill out our online application form.
