Back pain is one of the most common forms of discomfort that individuals experience, especially as they age. It can also be one of the most debilitating. There are several different conditions a person can develop in their back, and a lot of them result in frequent severe pain that limits their mobility.
Fortunately, advanced medical science has made surgical interventions effective at treating these symptoms and helping people find relief. However, surgery is a major step, and there are several things to keep in mind before you go through with it. This is what to consider when getting surgery for back pain.
Whether You Need the Surgery
Prior to signing up for your surgery, the first thing you should ask yourself is whether you even need it. Surgery isn’t always the ideal solution because it can be invasive and cause large amounts of discomfort as you heal. For these reasons, many pain specialists use interventional pain management as a surgery alternative.
Interventional pain management uses a series of minimally invasive techniques, such as steroids and spine stimulation, to help manage and reduce pain. The aim of these practices is to help patients learn how to best manage their pain before making the drastic jump to surgery.
The Type of Surgery You’re Getting
When looking to get surgery for back pain, it’s also important to consider the type of procedure you’re receiving. Even with interventional pain management, there are still times when you’ll need surgery to notice a difference. Some examples of this include suffering a problem with a spinal disk or experiencing bone overgrowth. There are several types of surgery that your doctor could recommend depending on your needs. Some examples include discectomies, fusions, and artificial disk insertion. Each of them has unique processes and requirements for the day of the procedure.
The Risks Involved With the Procedure
Another thing to understand is the risks involved with your particular surgery. Any time you undergo a procedure that opens the body, there’s at least a minor level of risk involved. Whether it be complications with the process itself or infection after the fact, knowing the potential problems will prepare you. Fortunately, modern medicine has come a long way, and there are now a lot of measures in place to help reduce the likelihood of issues.
How Long Will Healing Take?
Make sure that you talk with your doctor about how long recovery could take as well before you get the surgery. We all live busy lives, and these procedures can leave you out of commission for as long as a month or two. Because of this, you’ll want to plan carefully and have a detailed understanding of what aftercare will look like. This way, you can adjust your lifestyle to accommodate it properly.
If you’re wondering if surgery is the right course of action for your symptoms, make sure you consider the above factors and discuss them with your doctor first. Not everyone even needs surgical intervention, and the last thing you want is to make a rash decision about your health.
