The honest answer: when all else fails and you simply have no where else to turn. And the pain or disability is so bad that you just can't 'live with it'.
And then only if the surgeon is absolutely sure he knows where the pain is coming from. You see, Medicine's own term is FBS: Failed Back Surgery. Their own research indicates that less than 50% of fusions for example can be considered successful.
A group of the world's leading orthopaedic- and neurosurgeons, with all the best tools and scanners available, concurred that they were less than 50% of the time absolutely sure what was causing the pain.
It's stretching the point but say for example you came to me with a Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in your right arm, and I treated your left arm. Would the right arm get better? Of course not. Likewise, if your chiropractor, or the surgeon, is treating say the L4-L5 facet on the right when the problem is was actually at the L2-L3 facet, would the patient get better? Certainly not.
TREATMENT BASED ON A WRONG DIAGNOSIS IS DOOMED TO FAIL, be it LOWER BACK SURGERY or CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS.
Motion Palpation: This is where your chiropractor will excel since s/he examines every patient, looking for spinal fixations. Diligent motion palpation is a powerful tool, but it too is not always conclusive. In a severe disc lesion one may find no fixation at all, because the nucleus pulposis has escaped the confining ring-shaped 'annular' disc fibres. And sometimes an old injury resulting in a chronic fixation may give misleading information about the current problem.
The Radiological examination
X-rays are both very useful, and can be very misleading. This particular patient has three compression fractures at T12, L1 and L2, (assumed medically to be the source of his pain), and loss of the L4-L5 disc space (marked D), yet Motion Palpation, Kemp's Test and deep tenderness indicated that his pain was coming from the facet joints at L5-L1. A lumbar facet syndrome. The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. Indeed adjusting L5 has decreased his pain and increased his mobility by 90%. This 64-year old man does his exercises faithfully, knows that he can't go on long dawdles with his wife when shopping, he will the one to drop! though a good 'wandel' is fine. He comes in every six weeks for his maintenance treatment. This man was under threat of lower back surgery, and is more than happy with Chiropractic... I wonder on which part of his spine they were planning the surgery! Where the fractures are? At L4-L5 where the disc space is reduced? Or at the actual level of his problem: L5-S1.
LUMBAR FACET SYNDROME ...
MRI scans
LOWER BACK SURGERY
It's widely acknowledged by radiological researchers that a significant (up to a third) of normal people with absolutely no back pain have bulging discs and abnormalities on MRI. Having said that, the MRI is a wondrous tool, fiendishly difficult to read properly, but it can make all the difference in coming to a sound diagnosis. Unfortunately, an unethical surgeon, or chiropractor for that matter, looking for a fast buck can usually find something on MRI or X-ray that can be used to convince you that his/ her procedure will help you.
"It's critical to have a thorough workup to get a sense of the root cause of your pain."
Arnold J. Weil, M.D.
FROM THE CHIROPRACTIC COALFACE: before LOWER BACK SURGERY
Yesterday I was consulted by a young man with severe pain in the back of his right thigh and calf. The pain started three months previously in his back for no obvious reason. As the pain in his leg increased, so lower back pain receded:20% LBP / 80% leg pain, an ominous sign.
Worse, the "crossed" Slump test was strongly positive. Raising his LEFT leg produced severe pain in the back of his RIGHT thigh.
SLUMP TEST ...
He stood in an antalgic posture, stuck forwards and leaning towards the side of pain. The so-called Dejeurine triad was positive: coughing, sneezing and bearing down on the WC were painful.
Surprisingly there were no hard neurological signs: no numbness, normal reflexes and no muscle weakness.
The lowest segment in his back, normally L5, was exquisitely painful on palpation, and fixated on motion palpation.
Simple straight-forward diagnosis? Postero Medial L5-S1, Grade II lumbar disc protrusion.
Not so. One look at his X-rays show an extra lumbar vertebra (a so-called "lumbarisation" of part of his sacrum S1, with loss of L4-L5 disc space. So, is the problem at L4-L5 or L5-L6 or L6-S1? X-rays point to the higher level, examination to the lowest. The presence of the anomaly makes the pain pattern to the back of the thigh less certain. Today he has a MRI scan, out of his own pocket because his doctor has refused to order a scan.
Knowing the level of the lesion, with a high degree of certainty is critical to a successful outcome. Three months of medical management (neglect frankly, in my opinion) has seen him get steadily worse. Can Chiropractic still mean something for him at this late stage? Or is it lower back surgery?
What's on his side is that the Postero Medial disk herniation usually responds better and quicker than it's more common first cousin, the Postero Lateral Disk herniation.
POSTERO MEDIAL DISK HERNIATION ...
4 days later we have the MRI
It came as no surprise. A large lumbar disc protrusion at L5-S1, the lumbarisation, the list to starboard, and the pinched nerve in the foramen. Exactly what the physical exam predicted.
See how the young man has an antalgic list TOWARDS the painful side. What I call the Pisa sign. This is typical of the postero-medial disc herniation. Exactly what I expected.
Here you can see the large bulge into the foramen trapping the nerve to the back of his right leg. No wonder he has so much pain in his thigh. This is sore. Ouch!
This is a serious case. Medicine says we have no business dealing with a case like this. He should go straight under the knife.
I give him a 50/50 chance of escaping surgery. Everything is dependent on "does he trust me". Will he go the distance, or will family and friends, his doctor, pressure him? One sneeze, one silly movement can change everything.
Minus: He had a lot of pain after the first treatment, and had to call his doctor in for a shot.
Plus: Today, lifting his left leg produced no pain in his right leg. He too noticed it straight away. But, he's on heavy medication.
My take? He's definitely a bit better, but it's a knife edge. This is what makes Chiropractic so exciting. The challenge, the human drama. Never bored, I'm exhausted 's avonds. I'm a Dutchman. In the evening.
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LOWER BACK SURGERY COSTS
Americans spend $86 billion on back treatment every year, roughly the same as for cancer, a very large slice of which goes towards the back surgery costs. However research confirms that the problem is getting worse not better despite all the moola spent. Discectomies and fusions are soaring, over one million per year in the USA, yet more and more people are disabled and miserable. 8% of patients have a second surgery within two years; and 20% within ten years. Less than half of fusions are appropriate and successful. At a cost of $75,000 each...
CHIROPRACTIC COSTS
I give the young man in the case above about a 80% chance of full recovery, if he sticks with the program. He has a surgical consult in a month, and I have to do a miracle before that. 80% is admittedly a thumb suck, but based on thirty years experience. The direct cost?Acute phase: 2/w for 4 weeks = 8 treatments.
Rehab phase: 1/w for 3 weeks = 3
Tailoring off 1/w 2 weeks = 2
Maintenance: 1/6w for 40 wks = 7
20 treatments in one year @ 43 = 700 - 1000
The "intangible costs" are more difficult to measure. He has his own computer business and will be completely out of action for at least a week, as he may not sit, not at all. Thereafter he will most likely be able to perch and do some time on his computer. In total he is probably going to be disabled and unproductive for 2-3 weeks. One sneeze can change everything...
Prestigous medical journal "Spine"... LOWER BACK SURGERY
Spine is probably one of the most esteemed medical journals in the world. Spine has reported that, in a randomized controlled trial or RCT (one of the benchmark Chiropractic research trials) of patients with chronic back and neck pain, after 9 weeks of Chiropractic treatment 27% were completely without pain. In comparison only 9% of patients who received acupuncture and a miserly 5% of patients who took prescribed medication were pain free.In another Spine research article Aure et al showed that in a group of 49 patients with chronic low back pain, preventing them from working, that 67% of those receiving manipulation were back at work after two months in comparison with 27% who received exercise only.
CHIROPRACTIC RESEARCH @ Bernard Preston.com ...
CHIROPRACTIC RESEARCH @ Chiropractic-Books.com
Lower back surgery risk factors
- SMOKING: As in all surgery, smokers are at higher risk of Failed Back Surgery syndrome. There just isn't enough oxygen for the tissues to heal properly. Add to that the atherosclerosis narrowing the blood vessels. Add to that the coughing... And then of course you're at much higher risk from the General Anaesthetic if you are a smoker.
Every Chiropractor will tell you how s/he dreads the acute low back and leg pain patient who is also a smoker. The chances of chiropractic helping, are also reduced...
ATHEROSCLEROSIS SYMPTOMS Low Back Pain ...
ANAESTHETIC ALZHEIMERS ...
GENERAL ANAESTHETIC ...
- OBESITY. Presenting his research done at Jefferson University hospital, neurosurgeon Dr John Ratliff found a much higher incidence of complications in extremely overweight and obese patients, including blood clots, wound infections, heart problems, and deep vein thrombosis. We found that the incidence of complications related directly to the degree of obesity, he says...
- DIABETES. It's well known that diabetics, particularly poorly controlled diabetics, have a higher risk of wound infection and complication in all forms of surgery. Consider walking benefits both to prevent lower back surgery and maintain better blood sugar levels. A leg length inequality should be considered if standing and walking increase the pain...
WALKING BENEFITS ...
LEG LENGTH INEQUALITY ...a short leg?
BACK SURGERY COSTS
When considering lower back surgery costs, one must also count in the hidden costs: the months of sick leave and loss of productivity, the decreased enjoyment of life for the patient with lower back pain, the rehabilitation, and the burden borne by the whole family, when one member goes 'man down' for a few months. Read more in this report:
LOWER BACK PAIN ...
LEG PAIN AFTER BACK SURGERY
If at all possible avoid LOWER BACK SURGERY
I don't pretend to have the statistics as to just how often leg pain develops AFTER surgery (I'm on the hunt for them and will update this page accordingly) but in practice one is fairly regularly faced with patients who either got little relief of leg pain, or temporary relief, or leg pain started after surgery.Can that happen with Chiropractic too? Yes, it can, though the incidence in my own practice is low, and almost always of a temporary nature. Chiropractic researchers are now busy gathering statistics of this nature so that we have a much clearer science-based answer, rather than a general thumb suck.
LEG PAIN after BACK SURGERY ... (showthread.php?t=380350)
TO SUM UP... LOWER BACK SURGERY.
I'm personally in principle not against good lower back surgery based on a sound diagnosis, after all else has been explored, and in the hands of a careful and experienced surgeon. I refer patients myself for surgery occasionally when it's clear that Chiropractic is not going to help.A surgeon would probably say: ... I not against Chiropractic care ... in the hands of a careful and experienced chiropractor...
How do Chiropractors and Surgeons become competent and experienced. The hard way, I'm afraid. We don't call it 'a practice' for nothing. We practice on you!
Careful, thorough and conscientious are not necessarily qualities that one gains with experience. I personally think that all patients, no matter what condition they have, should be asking themselves the question: "Is this doctor, chiropractor, surgeon... being careful, thorough and conscientious?" If you're unsure, vote with your feet!
COMPLICATIONS OF SURGERY
Before going for lumbar back surgery it's worth giving chiropractic treatment a solid try. At least a month. Obviously there are exceptions...
COMPLICATIONS OF SURGERY ...
LOWER LUMBAR BACK PAIN
Avoid LOWER BACK SURGERY
Successfully addressing chronic lower lumbar back pain in the chiropractic clinic usually means addressing numerous factors: a short leg, spinal and sacroiliac and hip fixations, poor muscle tone, obesity, smoking, posture and work situations... all contribute to back pain.
LOWER LUMBAR BACK PAIN ...
USEFUL LINKS @ LOWER BACK SURGERY
LOWER BACK AND LEG PAIN ...
Return from LOWER BACK SURGERY to SLIPPED DISC SYMPTOMS
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