When Do You Need Back Surgery?

Do you have severe chronic back pain? While many of us don’t want to hear that back surgery is our best option, it can be what finally relieves you of your back pain for good. If you have ongoing back pain and haven’t found relief through chiropractic care or other treatment methods, surgery might be the best choice. Here’s what you need to know about your back pain, and when it might mean surgery. 

What is Back Pain?

The best place to start with back pain is to take a full inventory of what your symptoms are. Many different types of irritations and inflammations can fall under the category of back pain. However, each one has its own set of likely causes. Writing down your symptoms and narrowing them to the regions where they occur and the sensations you feel will give our Austin team plenty to work with as they head into the testing and diagnosis phase.

Back Pain Symptoms 

Unfortunately, back pain is a common symptom of everything from the flu to pregnancy. However, many people can feel back pain in different ways, such as: 

• Inflammation centered in the lower back (lumbar), neck (cervical), and mid-back (thoracic) regions
• Stiffness along the spine or in the muscles surrounding it
• Pops, cracks, and other noises or sensations when you move after resting
• Pain that is worse or better after resting
• Pain that is worsened or improved by exercise
• Spasms throughout the back that make it hard to stand, sit, or even lie down
• Numbness

Causes of Back Pain

For some patients, their back pain has no clear reason. For others, back pain can have causes that are easy to define. Common causes of back pain can include:

• Injuries to the spine during a car or sports accident 
• Activities like running and jumping that put a lot of wear and tear on the back
• Degeneration due to aging, osteoarthritis, or excess stress on the joints of the spine
• Scoliosis
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia
• Nerve compression or a herniated disc

What is Back Surgery?

Back surgery is a treatment option that is best for certain conditions that haven’t responded well to conventional treatment methods. Spinal surgery is often a good course of action for patients that are experiencing associated pain or numbness that travels down one or both arms or legs. According to Mayo Clinic, these symptoms are often caused by compressed nerves in the spine caused by disk problems or bone overgrowth.

When Do You Need Back Surgery? 

With 24 mobile vertebrae and an intricate network of nerves, discs, joints, muscles, and tendons, the back is a very complex part of the body. When you experience back pain, it can be unbearable. While surgery isn’t always necessary, sometimes it’s the exact thing that can help you overcome your pain. Hopkins Medicine explains if you experience these red flags with your back pain, it might be time to consult a doctor: 

• Pain that stays the same or worsens after two weeks
• Pain accompanied with a fever
• Weakness or loss of function 
• Tingling or numbness in the arms or legs 

Further, there are other conditions that also might need to be healed with surgery. Those conditions include:

• A slipped disc that hasn’t responded to conventional methods
• Broken or dislocated bones
• Spinal infection
• A tumor of the backbone or spine 

Testing and Treatment Plans

When you come into our Austin, Texas office for your back pain, we’ll start by gathering an overview of your medical history and conduct a physical to learn more about your underlying risks. We take this information and combine it with further testing to look for signs of spinal and nerve damage. Once we know the cause of your chronic pain, we can put together a treatment plan for your back pain. If we believe you’ll respond to conventional treatment methods, we’ll start there. However, if we believe surgery is the best option, we have our own neurosurgeon and orthopedic surgeon that both do spine surgery to help you overcome your pain as soon as possible. 

Make an Appointment with Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center

If you are suffering from back pain, come see our team at Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center. We provide specialized treatment plans for your chronic back pain in Austin and can help you understand what your symptoms mean and what needs to be done so you can improve. With a diverse team that has different specialities, there will be someone at our office that can help you. Call today at (512)-806-0015 to make an appointment with us today.