Back Surgery: Facts, Stats, and Shocking News About Back Surgery Success Rates
There’s nothing minor about back surgery. It’s a major surgery, involving time, money, and effort to pull off. It is not cheap, and requires a significant recovery period.
All that is fine so long as there is an equivalent upside, right?
Of course, and the assumption for many years was that there was an equivalent upside. The statistics that are coming out are now challenging that assumption.
THE $50B/YR PROBLEM
It’s estimated that 80% of Americans will have a serious back pain episode at some point in their life. It’s estimated that 50 million Americans suffer from serious back pain every day. That problem has fueled a $50 billion dollar a year industry, with surgery leading the list in expenses.
And yet, the outcomes are not great.
In fact, failed back surgery is so common, it’s been given it’s own syndrome name: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). It’s the only diagnosis given to a treatment that hasn’t worked.
A recent study found that:
“In patients with chronic low back pain with and without previous surgery for disc herniation, lumbar fusion was not superior to cognitive intervention and exercises at relieving symptoms, improving function and return to work at 4-years.”
The most common back surgery, a “Spinal Fusion”, is a procedure that has an $80,000 price tag, and roughly a 35% success rate. That’s not a great number.
And consider this…
In a poll at a 2009 conference in Bonita Springs, Florida, 99 out of 100 surgeons who were asked whether they’d elect to have lumbar fusion surgery if it were recommended to them said “absolutely not.”*
If you went to a restaurant, and you asked the waiter “would you eat this item on the menu?” and they answered “ABSOLUTELY NOT!”...what would you do?
THE TRUTH ABOUT BACK PAIN
Back pain is often the result of poor mechanics. The back is being asked to move and function in a way that it shouldn’t, and either quickly or slowly, it begins to fail. Back pain, in many cases, is preventable (different story if there is an acute trauma, like if you fell out of a helicopter and landed on your back).
Back pain is, in many cases, addressable and correctable with natural solutions. These solutions take time, just like it took time to create the problem. But if poor mechanics is the root problem, the only real solution is to correct the poor mechanics. Otherwise, a small problem only becomes larger with time.
All that is fine so long as there is an equivalent upside, right?
Of course, and the assumption for many years was that there was an equivalent upside. The statistics that are coming out are now challenging that assumption.
THE $50B/YR PROBLEM
It’s estimated that 80% of Americans will have a serious back pain episode at some point in their life. It’s estimated that 50 million Americans suffer from serious back pain every day. That problem has fueled a $50 billion dollar a year industry, with surgery leading the list in expenses.
And yet, the outcomes are not great.
In fact, failed back surgery is so common, it’s been given it’s own syndrome name: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). It’s the only diagnosis given to a treatment that hasn’t worked.
A recent study found that:
“In patients with chronic low back pain with and without previous surgery for disc herniation, lumbar fusion was not superior to cognitive intervention and exercises at relieving symptoms, improving function and return to work at 4-years.”
The most common back surgery, a “Spinal Fusion”, is a procedure that has an $80,000 price tag, and roughly a 35% success rate. That’s not a great number.
And consider this…
In a poll at a 2009 conference in Bonita Springs, Florida, 99 out of 100 surgeons who were asked whether they’d elect to have lumbar fusion surgery if it were recommended to them said “absolutely not.”*
If you went to a restaurant, and you asked the waiter “would you eat this item on the menu?” and they answered “ABSOLUTELY NOT!”...what would you do?
THE TRUTH ABOUT BACK PAIN
Back pain is often the result of poor mechanics. The back is being asked to move and function in a way that it shouldn’t, and either quickly or slowly, it begins to fail. Back pain, in many cases, is preventable (different story if there is an acute trauma, like if you fell out of a helicopter and landed on your back).
Back pain is, in many cases, addressable and correctable with natural solutions. These solutions take time, just like it took time to create the problem. But if poor mechanics is the root problem, the only real solution is to correct the poor mechanics. Otherwise, a small problem only becomes larger with time.
TAKEAWAY: Back surgery is a big decision. We recommend taking your time and evaluating the options before making a call.
Our offer to you: If you'd like to come in, see one of our doctors to discuss back problems, or how Chiropractic Care or Functional Medicine might support your body, then you can do so by claiming our $19 new patient special. Simply select the location you want to visit, give us a call, and we'll look forward to meeting you!
Our offer to you: If you'd like to come in, see one of our doctors to discuss back problems, or how Chiropractic Care or Functional Medicine might support your body, then you can do so by claiming our $19 new patient special. Simply select the location you want to visit, give us a call, and we'll look forward to meeting you!
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5106227/
http://www.orthopaedicsurgery.uci.edu/pdf/rosengoodhousekeeping.pdf
https://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/69/9/1643.full.pdf
https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/spine-specialists/what-expect-spine-surgery-low-back-pain
https://www.thegoodbody.com/back-pain-statistics/
https://qz.com/1010259/the-100-billion-per-year-back-pain-industry-is-mostly-a-hoax/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5106227/
http://www.orthopaedicsurgery.uci.edu/pdf/rosengoodhousekeeping.pdf
https://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/69/9/1643.full.pdf
https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/spine-specialists/what-expect-spine-surgery-low-back-pain
https://www.thegoodbody.com/back-pain-statistics/
https://qz.com/1010259/the-100-billion-per-year-back-pain-industry-is-mostly-a-hoax/