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Low back pain can be a chronic and miserable
circumstance to live with. Although surgery can help some people, its role in
chronic low back pain is often not clear. After five years, those operated
on for disc disease fare no better, on average, than those managed
conservatively. Outcomes after
surgery often fall short of expectations.
Understanding what causes pain in any given individual therefore can be
challenging and, sadly, frustrating. Just because a slipped disc is found on
imaging does not mean it is the primary source of pain.
It must be emphasized that surgery for disc disease is primarily directed
toward relieving sciatica or radiating leg pain resulting from herniated disc
material “pinching” or irritating a nerve root as it tries to make its way
out of the spine. Back pain relief
follows then as a secondary consequence to the primary effect of decompressing
the nerve root.
For many individuals, multiple sources of pain exist simultaneously
and failure to address each one of them may well leave these individuals
unrelieved in their suffering. The
sufferer does not exist in isolation as tremendous impact is exerted on marital,
family, friendship, business, and job relationships.
This physical and psychosocial turmoil often leads to poor emotional
adjustment to disability, depression, and a decline in quality of life.
"Is your back holding you back?" Page
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