How to Avoid Low Back Surgery?
Oh my gosh I herniated disc in my back am I going to need surgery? My name is Dr. Grant Elliott with RehabFix here to tell you that 97% of individuals that pursue conservative care for lumbar disc herniations resolve without the need for surgery. You read that correctly! Out of almost 280,000 subjects 97% percent recovered without surgery! This is incredible! This is a new study from 2020 and it is a huge deal for everybody because it shows all of us that if you have the right rehab program, you can resolve these issues just fine.
Common Low Back Issues
Lumbar disc herniations with or without sciatica are one of the most common low back issues. Unfortunately they're commonly mismanaged. These individuals are also commonly sent to surgery or sent for injections prematurely. But you have a 97% chance of recovering as long as you get in the right hands, you get on the right plan, you find someone that's supportive of your goals that can structure things properly, and that can ultimately give you what you're looking for.
What Increases Risk of Surgery?
Of the 3% that failed conservative care they found a few common characteristics between them. 1. They were male. 2. They had previous opioid or painkiller use. 3. They received previous lumbar injection(s). Yes, you heard that right! Previous injection and previous painkiller / opioid use increased risk for surgery! That's crazy considering the number of people that are sent straight to pills or sent straight to injections for lumbar disc herniations or sciatica pain. So now you know when the first thing that is recommended is pills or injections that this may increase your risk for failure of conservative care with rehab and may increase your risk of surgery. This is incredible news everybody and it shows us that majority of surgeries can be avoided!
Success Rate of Rehab VS Failure Rate of Surgery
So if you have a 97% chance of being successful with conservative care, guess what the percentage is for risk of developing failed low back surgery syndrome? It is between 10 to 40%. You heard that right 10-40%! So let's look at the upper end of 40%, that's close to a flip of a coin! A flip of a coin that your surgery will fail. With that 40% failure rate let's consider the extensive risks and costs that are associated with surgery. Now let's compare that 40% failure to the 97% success rate associate with a proper rehabilitative program and guidance with these low back issues! Look at the comparison between these. As you can see it is vastly in favor of non-operative care and we prevent so many surgeries in this program alone.
The Trap of Our Healthcare System
There are so many individuals with low back issues like disc herniations or sciatica that are immediately told, "oh you need surgery or injections right away." The number of people that could avoid these surgeries and save an enormous amount of costs as well as prevent many risks associated with these invasive procedures is a massive number! Getting sucked into the routine medical system rabbit hole that consists of a catch-22 of all of these other procedures rarely leads individuals to success. The way the system is currently set up and the mud that it can drag you through is entirely preventable.
Find Someone You Trust
So I want to encourage you to consult someone that you trust. Whether that's me or whether that's somebody else I don't care. I just want to make sure you get in the hands of someone who cares about you, who values your life, who values your goals, and is centered around you. Achieving what you want to achieve and avoiding all these other procedures and all these other traps that are out there for you is the goal. Do it right the first time! Find someone who cares, get into a structured- systematic plan that is going to get you to your goals as quickly as possible.
What is the Next Step?
This can vary from person to person but in my experience with online clients around the world there is a similar pattern among many individuals with disc herniations or sciatica that is commonly missed. The majority of my clients in the RehabFix Online Low Back Program have had low back issues for years and have tried Chiro, PT, medication, injections, orthopedists - you name it! It seems like they all were missing some key components..... First I would recommend my free low back e-book that discusses multiple factors that contribute to lower back pain!
Then if you still feel like you are
unsure
confused
wasting time
missing out on your life at 100%
wasting thousands $$$ on interventions that aren't producing results
working with someone you feel does NOT care about YOUR GOALS
worried about this leading to drugs or surgery
Then it's time to take action! No time to waste!
✅ Ready to ATTACK Low Back Pain?
✅ Are you sick of guessing your way through this low back pain?
✅ Want to prevent drugs or surgery?
Thanks for reading! -Dr. Grant Elliott
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