Chronic back pain sufferers have a wide variety of treatment options available to them.  As with any pathology, there is a standard course of treatment that should be followed.

Try Conservative Treatments First

Before considering surgical options, patients should have tried other, more conservative treatments.  Some alternatives include massage therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic care, epidural steroid injections and other pain management techniques.

Often, conservative treatments help over a short time span.  Unfortunately, many back problems persist and usually worsen as the symptoms are much more easily treated than the underlying causes.  If conservative treatments are not relieving your back pain, it may be time to consider a surgical alternative.

Minimally Invasive Options

Many areas of modern medicine are moving towards less invasive treatments, and spine care is no exception.  Technological and clinical advancements mean that for most patients, a spinal fusion is no longer the only surgical option.  There are many different spine surgeries classified as "minimally invasive", and these surgeries incorporate vastly differing approaches.  It takes some research to understand these differences, and it is important that patients take the time to understand those differences so they can make the right decision for their health.

Find out more information about minimally invasive spine procedures.

Open Spine Surgery

Open spine surgery is a high risk surgery with an alarmingly low success rate, a high risk of side effects (including possible mortality) and a long, painful recovery time. Relying on the MRI, which has a poor diagnostic value, open spine surgery damages the skin, muscle, ligaments, bone, blood vessels, nerves, and normal disc tissue, and weakens the spine by damaging all of its supporting structures. Open spine surgery also causes significant scar tissue and in most cases should be viewed as a drastic step and a last resort. 

Despite the well-documented drawbacks associated with traditional spine surgery, there are still cases where open spine surgery is the best option.  These cases may include patients with severe structural problems due to trauma, scoliosis or other causes.  Additionally, patients with instability problems (such as severe spondylolisthesis) may require an open procedure with pins, screws or other hardware.