Back Or Neck Surgery Recommended? First Get The Facts…. Then Think Again

First let me say that I am not against surgery for the neck or back.  I am against surgery as a first line of care or defense for severe spinal pain.

And the facts support me.

Recent studies indicate that in a 5 year follow up, there was no statistically significant improvement in outcomes for those who did surgery… versus those who did absolutely nothing.  Now, I didn’t say these patients got better.  In fact, some got worse whether they did surgery or didn’t.

But the surgical patients did not do better. I find this disturbing considering the risk to the surgical patients including hospital induced infection, anesthesia reaction, possibility of negative surgical reaction or increased pain due to the procedure.

If find it more disturbing that patient’s actually opt for surgery because there is now a viable, safe, reliable and effective alternative available.

Studies as far back as 2003 by Dr. Dennis McClure, a neurosurgeon quite familiar with spinal surgery, indicate that patients recommended for surgery who opted for a protocol of non-surgical decompression therapy had a 92% success rate!.  This is a real eye-opener as in the past, these patients would have undergone extensive surgery exposing them to all the risks previously noted. Not to mention the sky high costs (around $154,000.00 including surgery, operating room suite, anesthesia fees, post-surgical rehab and hosptitilization according to the AMA).

Also interesting was the fact that those who had submitted to but failed  previous surgical “decompression” procedures known as “laminectomies” (whereby the a piece of the vertebrae called the lamina is removed) had a success rate of 79% with a protocol of non-surgical decompression.   Quite remarkable particularly as these patients typically have post-surgical scar tissue and muscle weakness due to the surgical “wounds”.

Conclusion:  If you’re thinking about surgery for back or neck pain…. Maybe you should think again and explore other options.

Til next time.

Dr. Dave Podell, DC

Want to find out if you’re a candidate. Give us a call at  Waterfront Spine Institute for a no charge consultation  201-840-1980 or go to  www.waterfrontspinerehab.com for more info

Thank you so much for visiting my site. I encourage you to leave your questions and comments below. And for more information on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression please fill out the form to the right or give us a call at 201-840-1980

About Dr. Podell, DC: Dr. Dave Podell, DC has been in active practice for over 25 years and has seen countless numbers of the most difficult and previously failed cases. As the clinic director of the Watefront Spine Institute in Edgewater, New Jersey, just minutes from the GW Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and midtown Manhattan, Dr. Podell, DC runs one of the Northeast’s most advanced and evolutionary multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of disc herniation and associated ailments. Dr. Podell, DC sits on the advisory board of Spinal Aid Centers Of America and trains other health care providers in the science and art of non surgical spinal decompression in his Edgewater facility. He continues to train and advance his clinic’s state of the art spinal rehabilitation programs and is known nationwide in his field. He is additionally certified in neurodiagnostic evaluations, Spinal Manipulation Under Anasthesia and Disability Impairment rating.  In addition to NSSD, he had received advanced training in Spinal Chiropractic Biophysics, Active Therapeutic Techniques, MedX and Spine Force Spinal Rehabilitation, Extremity manipulation, orthopedics and neurology.