Living with chronic back pain in not only debilitating, but it can also lead to depression and anxiety. Back pain can quickly interrupt your daily routine, making it impossible to go to work, do house work, or even spend time with your children. If you are suffering from a back injury, you might fear that spinal surgery is your only option. Before you do anything as drastic as surgery, there are a few things you need to consider.
First, have you exhausted every nonsurgical treatment option available to you? There are many ways to treat back pain, even from a major spinal injury. You can try various options for pain management to see what works for you. Your doctor might advise you to try chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, cortisone shots, or physical therapy to cope with your back pain. If these methods do not work, your doctor might prescribe medication such as anti-inflammatories to treat the problem. If you have tried all of these possibilities and still have debilitating back pain, it might be time to consider spinal surgery.
Second, think about what kind of spinal surgery you will have. Most people assume that they only have one option, but this is not the case. Today’s doctors and medical research scientists have developed a number of procedures that are minimally invasive to treat back pain. If you are considering spinal surgery in Blue Ash or elsewhere, be sure to investigate options that are minimally invasive to reduce your recovery time and make the surgery less disruptive to your lifestyle.
Third, make sure you consider how you will handle recovery time after surgery. Do you have friends or family that will be around to care for you? In the first few weeks after your back surgery, you will require a lot of help just to get up and down to go to the bathroom or make some food. Before you schedule spinal surgery, it’s important to talk to your loved ones about your recovery and find out if they would be willing to stay with you. In some cases, you might have a few different friends or relatives that could take turns caring for you immediately after surgery.
Finally, make sure you get a second opinion before you decide to schedule surgery. Even if you have the best doctor in the world, it never hurts just to have a second opinion before you decide to endure major surgery. Make sure you have exhausted all other treatment options and then choose the procedure that is most minimally invasive to reduce your recovery time. With these steps, you can insure that you make the right choice as you consider whether spinal surgery is right for you.
JourneyLite offers a wide range of health services, including minimally invasive spinal surgery in Blue Ash, OH. To learn more about their services, visit them online!
