by Sora Millay

Created on: April 27, 2008   Last Updated: April 20, 2012

Lower back pain is commonly caused by injuries such as spinal fractures and herniated spinal discs, medical conditions such as arthritis and scoliosis, or simply the wear and tear of time as our bodies get older. In many of these cases, the pain is caused by spinal compression between the vertebrae, which puts pressure on surrounding nerve roots, and can be worsened by the degeneration of spinal discs, which cushion the vertebrae. Conservative treatments include bedrest, anti-inflammatory medicine, traction therapy and the wearing of a brace, but as they do not address the root cause of the pain, they are inadequate solutions for many. If these have failed to work for you, your doctor may have asked you to consider surgery.

Surgery

The type of surgery depends very much on a case-by-case evaluation of the condition and cause of the pain. If for example, the pain is caused by spinal compression, decompression surgery will be effective in removing the element causing the pressure on surrounding nerve roots, which could be anything from part of a disk to vertebrae and tissue. Decompression surgery has been shown to relieve pain in 80% to 90% of patients who undertake the procedure, although it does not correct cases in which the root cause of pain is the degeneration of the vertebrae or discs due to wear and tear, so relapses are possible.

For cases of degenerated or herniated discs, where pain is caused by friction between the vertebrae, spinal fusion surgery has been shown to eliminate pain for 80% of patients who undergo the process of "fusing" the vertebrae together, although full recovery depends on good bone growth and health. A more recently developed alternative to spinal fusion with comparable effectiveness is disc replacement surgery which can potentially restore full mobility by replacing the damaged disc with an artificial one. Also, with rapid advances by stem cell research making headway in the field of joint-replacement surgery, we should soon be able to "repair" a degenerated spinal disc or "grow" a new one.

Any form of invasive surgery does come with significant risks however, especially when spinal nerves are involved, which is why physicians are reluctant to recommend surgery except in cases where back pain is potentially disabling. Also to be taken into account is the comprehensive physical rehabilitation program required after surgery to regain mobility and to ensure complete recovery. This is why before considering surgery, you should first

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