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Back Surgery Risks: 5 Myths Debunked

The Truth About Back Surgery and What to Expect

When you hear the words “back surgery,” you may assume that you have a really rough road ahead. Let’s take a look at five common back surgery myths and why those myths aren’t true:

Myth #1: Back Surgery Requires a Long Hospital Stay

Truth: Most surgery takes place in an outpatient center, and most patients go home the same day.

Myth #2: Patients That Have Surgery Miss a Lot of Work

Truth: Recovery time after minimally invasive surgery is usually much faster than recovery time after traditional surgery. Instead of missing months of work, most patients miss just four to six weeks of work.

Myth #3: Surgery Is Extremely Painful

Truth: Minimally invasive back surgery uses the smallest possible incisions to repair back and spine issues. Thanks to these advanced techniques, patients often experience far less pain than they would with invasive open back surgery.

Myth #4: One Surgery Means a Lifetime of Repeated Surgeries

Truth: The occurrence of repeated surgeries is vastly reduced by a good diagnosis. For this reason, patients should never have surgery before consulting with back and spine surgery specialists.

Myth #5: Surgery Is Too Risky

Truth: Every surgery comes with risks, but minimally invasive techniques have a lower risk than full-on open surgery. The risks associated with back surgery fall into two main categories:

1. General surgery risks. Surgery comes with the risk of adverse reactions to anesthesia, blood clots that travel to other parts of the body and post-operative pneumonia. Minimally invasive surgery reduces those risks by utilizing less potent forms of anesthesia, causing less blood loss and allowing patients to get up and around quickly so that they don’t develop pneumonia.
2. Spine surgery risks. Some experience injury to the spinal column, the spinal nerves or the surrounding tissues during surgery, but this only happens in 0.0001 percent of cases. In just a few cases, doctors find something unexpected, and they have to resort to open surgery.

When possible, try other treatment alternatives before undergoing back surgery. When surgery looks like your best option, contact SpineCARE for a free consultation.

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