Failed Low Back Surgery

Back surgery is a common procedure in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of operations performed each year. These surgeries can include laminectomies, diskectomies, and spinal fusions. However, conservative medical approaches to back pain such as rest, medications, exercise, and physical therapy are often recommended before surgery. If these methods fail, epidural injections may be used. If there is still little relief, chiropractic care is usually not considered, and many patients follow the medical trajectory toward surgery.

Although many patients believe that surgery is the primary concern for surgeons, it is more commonly indicated when the nerve root is compressed and there are neurological signs such as muscle wasting, foot drop, or numbness. If back pain is the primary problem and leg pain or numbness are absent, then surgery should generally be avoided.

However, most patients with leg pain will also have low back pain, and this low back pain can be quite severe. The patients who have this continued pain or numbness are called surgical failures. The term for this is failed back surgery syndrome. Entire medical conferences have been devoted to the topic/problem. Patients are left with few medical options after a failure and re-operation is especially problematic. The patient may be prescribed an opiate patch, or perhaps an implanted spinal cord stimulator, or both. These devices send electrical impulses through tiny wires that carry the signal to different areas of the spinal cord.

Sometimes these approaches work, but too often they don’t. By their nature, they cannot correct a joint problem. If you had a joint/disk injury before the surgery, it is likely that you will continue to experience pain or numbness after the surgery. If you are experiencing back pain, chiropractic care may be a viable option for you. Dr. William Morgan at Morgan Chiropractic can help you determine if chiropractic care is right for you. You can schedule a consultation or appointment by visiting their website. Schedule an appointment with us today to get started on your journey to a pain-free life.