Avoiding Spine Surgery: Stacking Positive Outcomes Through Minimally Invasive Intervention
By Dr. Joseph Mejia, DO, FAAPMR
Medical Director, Performance Ortho
Surgery Does NOT Guarantee Long-Term Relief
Spinal Degeneration and chronic back pain impact upwards of half of all adults. For some, it is an inevitable pitfall of aging. For others, chronic pain is a result of past trauma, genetic irregularities, or diet and lifestyle choices. Regardless of the source of your pain, physicians have recommended spinal surgery, such as disc fusions, as an effort to mitigate long-term pain and stabilize the lumbar region for decades.
Years of clinical data shows that these invasive procedures produce mixed results in terms of long-term success, while carrying intensive, lengthy recovery times. At Performance Ortho, our mission is to promote root-cause treatment and subsequent positive patient outcomes without masking symptoms through invasive procedures and medications.
Where Traditional Intervention Falls Short
As many who have undergone intensive spine fusion surgery in the past would attest, relief in one area of the spine is often accompanied by new pain in others, alongside additional side effects. One of the more common complications is known as Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). This umbrella term affects those who are presenting with new or persisting chronic lumbar pain after undergoing intensive spinal fusion surgery and rehabilitation.
Some clinical studies attribute FBSS pain worsening when rehabilitation is not monitored by an interdisciplinary team or abandoned altogether. Additionally, aggressive pain medications, gabapentinoids, and even acetaminophen are all taxing on the body and should not be used as an indefinite intervention after surgery.
Additionally, invasive lumbar fusion procedures may present patients with new complications such as nerve damage, infection and Adjacent Segment Disease. ASD is a post-surgical condition in which the spinal discs adjacent to a surgically fused spinal disc take on increased stress, which in turn accelerates disc degeneration and can lead to additional chronic pain and even another surgery.
All of this to say, traditional lumbar fusion surgery has failed patients time and time again, thus it is imperative to empower patients to make sensical, informed health decisions before going under invasive surgical procedures.
Many Back Problems Improve Without Surgery
Before proceeding with any form of advanced lumbar intervention, there are measures you can take at home to give yourself the highest probability for positive outcomes. The first major lifestyle shift that can promote healing is a change in diet. An anti-inflammatory diet has been proven through clinical studies to provide similar relief levels as over the counter medications such as aspirin or ibuprofen.
An anti-inflammatory diet would largely consist of hearty portions of fruits and vegetables such as beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, blueberries, tomatoes and more. Fatty fish such as salmon as well as leafy greens and monosaturated fats such as avocado and olive oil round out a diet that significantly decreases inflammatory stress reactions from your body. Be mindful of your calcium intake via dairy products and leafy green vegetables to support bone health and fend off osteoporosis.
Specific diet recommendations aside, maintaining a healthy weight can significantly reduce the stress on your spine and can even eliminate the needs for surgery altogether. If you’re a smoker, blood flow and tissue regeneration is greatly inhibited and is likely exasperating any existing lumbar pain.
The physicians at Performance Ortho often partner with our patients to by exploring and navigating lifestyle changes before proceeding with any surgical intervention, as the solution to your chronic pain may be more controllable than initially thought.
Non-Surgical Options are Available and Often More Effective
At Performance Ortho, we pride ourselves on delivering non-surgical solutions designed to help patients avoid invasive surgery. What makes us unique is our fully integrated, team-based approach, where orthopedic surgeons, interventional pain physicians, and rehabilitation specialists, including physical and occupational, work side by side in one facility. This close collaboration ensures that every patient receives a highly coordinated, personalized care plan focused on restoring function, reducing pain, and getting you back to enjoying life.
Non-surgical treatment options vary in intensity, with solutions varying from low-impact physical therapy and acupuncture to same-day outpatient procedures such as spinal injections, nerve ablations and Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression (MILD©) procedures, performed at our affiliated ambulatory surgery center. If you’d like to explore more of our minimally invasive treatment options, we invite you to schedule your first consultation with one of our patient-care navigators.
Contact Performance Ortho for More Information
Are you or a loved one suffering from chronic back pain and seeking a non-surgical alternative? Contact one of our four New Jersey ortho clinics in Branchburg, Somerset, Watchung, and Hillsborough. Our compassionate team and their expertise are here to help you through every step of your journey to pain relief.