Back Pain: Should You Opt For Surgery?

You do it before you’re even aware of it – bend or reach the wrong way and create that first twinge of pain in your back. By the time you experience that awful feeling in your sacroiliac, it’s often too late to do anything about it. Anyone who’s felt even temporary back pain knows it’s a special kind of torture that’s unlike anything else on earth.  

Everything from herniated disks to sciatica can bring horrible and paralyzing grief that can last for days, weeks or – even worse – months or years. But do you need surgery if your ache turns chronic? An operation can help ease the pain, but the recovery time can be long. And a new study suggests those who opt to ‘wait it out’ often recover in about the same time as patients who wind up in surgery. Researchers conclude that if you can withstand the pain for a little while, you can avoid the OR and its potential complications.

But the best advice of all is not to let it get that far. Regular regimens of exercise and physiotherapy can go a long way to keeping your back from going out – and keeping you from having to stay in. Here are some resources you can use to help you get ‘back’ to normal.

Treatment of Back Pain
 
Back Injury Prevention
 
Back Pain Primer

Back expert Q&A