BACK SURGERY – DON’T TAKE IT LIGHTLY
With back problems on the rise, particularly lower back pain, there’s a growing belief that back surgery is the ultimate quick fix. Back pain is a crippling and creeping pandemic in all populations. Worldwide, people with bulging discs, spinal stenosis or degenerative disc disease are hearing they are crazy to put up with pain and that spinal surgery is the answer. More alarming is the subliminal message that spine surgery is the back pain treatment of first resort; that disc replacement or laser spine surgery is easy to do and will change life for the better overnight. This is rarely the case.
This small e-book written by Sarah Key, the renowned author of the best-selling ‘Back Sufferers’ Bible’ explains how the human spine is a highly sophisticated mechanical structure and why spine surgery is not the silver bullet. The author looks at back surgery from the perspective of a back-treating therapist of many years standing, who sees the pitfalls and inherits the unsuccessful outcomes – the tragic cases of ‘failed back surgery syndrome’.
Sarah Key makes it clear that she is not a surgeon with an intimate working knowledge of the different surgical procedures, but from her position as a highly regarded practitioner with a worldwide reputation (she was made a Member of the Victorian Order by The Queen in 2003 and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Salford in 2014 for her work) she has important commentary to make in the world of backs.
For the benefit of patients lost in a wilderness and not knowing which way to turn she has spelled out the clearly defined indications for back surgery, as she sees them. She also lists the possible adverse outcomes she observes from the different surgical procedures and the broad principles of post-operative management for each. It is a must-read for anybody considering back surgery.
By providing the typical signs and symptoms of cases that probably do need to go to surgery, Sarah Key gives you a fuller picture and arms you with knowledge, so you will know whether you are beyond help through conservative therapies. Provided with vital background information, you will be able to discuss the issues with your spine surgeon and at the very least, make an informed decision – and very importantly – without a heavy heart, if you do decide to go that way.
Click on the book image to read the first few pages. . . .
