Spinal fusion is a type of spinal surgery used to correct problems with the small bones in your spine, called the vertebrae. This procedure addresses back pain or spinal instability by permanently fusing together two or more vertebrae. When the fused vertebrae heal, they form one solid bone. By decreasing the mobility between specific vertebrae, you may reduce the effects of spinal problems that make back movement painful. 

Spinal fusion is just one of the surgical options available for people dealing with chronic back pain. Read on for a breakdown of this procedure, including when it’s recommended, what happens during the surgery, and what you can expect during your recovery.

When is spinal fusion surgery recommended?

Spinal fusion surgery is performed to help improve spinal weakness, back pain, or deformities of the spine. By eliminating movement in a specific part of the spine, this surgery may help relieve symptoms of many spinal health conditions. Spinal fusion can be an option for people with:

• Scoliosis
• Spinal instability
• Arthritis in the spine, such as spinal stenosis
• Spondylolisthesis
• Herniated disks
• Degenerative disk disease
• Fractured or injured vertebra
• Infections or tumors causing spinal weakness or instability

Before your doctor recommends any type of spinal surgery, they’ll need to pinpoint the source of your back problems. They will do this using a diagnostic imaging test, such as an x-ray, computerized tomography (CT) scan, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. If your physician determines that stabilizing two or more vertebrae may improve your symptoms, they may recommend spinal fusion surgery.

What happens during spinal fusion surgery?

There are a few different techniques that surgeons may use to perform a spinal fusion. The details of your surgery will depend on the reason you’re getting the procedure, the location of the vertebrae to be fused, and your overall health. 

No matter how your surgeon approaches the procedure, you will be under anesthesia. This means that you’ll be unconscious and won’t feel any pain during the surgery. Generally, spinal fusion surgery consists of three different steps, and it can take around three to four hours. 

• First, the surgeon will make one or more incisions in your back, abdomen, or neck. The location of the incisions, as well as their size and number, will depend on your specific situation. This surgery may either be performed laparoscopically — through a series of small incisions — or through one larger incision. 
• Next, your surgeon will prepare a bone graft to put between the vertebrae that need to be fused. This bone graft may come from another part of your body, such as your pelvis. It may also come from a bone bank (this is called an allograft). They may also use a synthetic bone graft. If bone is taken from your pelvis, it will be taken at the beginning of this procedure.
• Finally, your surgeon will use the bone graft to fuse two or more vertebrae together permanently. To do this, they’ll place the bone graft between the vertebrae that they want to connect. They may also use metal screws, rods, or plates to stabilize the vertebrae and hold them in place as the bone heals and the vertebrae naturally fuse together.

Note: Sometimes, spinal fusion surgery is performed at the same time as another spinal surgery, such as a foraminotomy or laminectomy. This is usually done to help stabilize the spine after removing a portion of one or more vertebrae. In this case, the spinal fusion will be performed after the first procedure is finished. Your surgeon may use the bone removed from the vertebra as the bone graft in your spinal fusion.

How long does it take to recover from spinal fusion?

Spinal fusion surgeries can be performed as both inpatient and outpatient procedures. The type you get will depend on your doctor’s recommendation, the specific details of your surgery, and your preferences. If you have inpatient surgery, you’ll probably stay at the hospital for three to four days after your procedure. During this time, your medical team will monitor your recovery. If you have outpatient surgery, you’ll go home on the same day as your procedure.

During your recovery, you will go through different stages. Throughout each part of your recovery, it’s important to follow your doctor’s recommendations. They will give you guidelines on how much physical activity you can handle, as well as how to move your back to keep from disturbing the spinal fusion. Your doctor will likely recommend walking every day to help boost blood flow, speed up wound healing, and decrease muscle soreness after surgery.

About four weeks after your spinal fusion, you should be able to go back to doing simple activities, such as driving or light housework. If your job doesn’t require physical labor, you’ll probably be able to return to work in one to two months. If your job requires physical labor, you may have to wait three to six months or longer to go back.

During your recovery, you should focus on keeping your spinal fusion in place so that your vertebrae can fuse with the bone graft and stabilize. Depending on your age and overall health, it may take up to six months or a year for the fusion to heal completely.

Will your mobility be affected by spinal fusion surgery?

If you’re considering spinal fusion surgery, it’s probably because you’ve already tried other options to manage your symptoms without success. Though the surgery may be necessary, it’s still normal to wonder what your mobility and activity level will look like after your spinal fusion has healed.

Depending on which vertebrae are fused together, the fusion may take away some of your mobility. However, most spinal fusion surgeries only target small portions of the spine. They shouldn’t have too significant of an effect on your ability to bend over, twist, or perform other activities. Before your procedure, you can talk with your doctor about how the fusion may affect your flexibility and the range of motion in your spine. 

As you’re searching for the right surgeon to perform your spinal fusion, you should know that your choice may affect the price you pay for your surgery. The healthcare facility, surgeon, and even city in which you have your procedure can all impact how much you ultimately pay for your spinal fusion. 

Searching online for a fair price for your spinal fusion surgery can get complicated, but there’s an easier way. New Choice Health’s Patient Assist program can help you take advantage of financing and cash pay discounts to lower the cost of your spinal fusion without decreasing the quality of your care. Use New Choice Health’s Spine Surgery Assist program to find a fair cost for your spinal fusion surgery today.

When you have a herniated disk in your spine, it can compress nerves near your spinal cord and cause severe pain that radiates down your arms or legs. Diskectomy is a surgery that’s often recommended to treat this type of pain, so much so that it’s the most common spinal surgery in the United States.

Though this surgery can be very effective in treating arm and leg pain caused by a herniated disk, it may not give as much relief to your actual back or neck pain. To help with those issues, your doctor may recommend physical therapy or other non-surgical treatments in addition to your diskectomy.

Read on for a breakdown of what happens during diskectomy surgery, when you may need it, and what the recovery is like.

What is a herniated disk?

Herniated disks are one of the most common causes of pain in the back, neck, and legs. Typically, herniated disks can heal on their own without spinal surgery. However, that’s not always the case. If you’re looking at diskectomy surgery, it’s probably because your herniated disk hasn’t gone away with at-home treatments. 

A herniated disk is a type of spinal injury. It may also be called a bulging, ruptured, or slipped disk. The disks in your spine act as cushions between each of your vertebrae. They allow your spine to move without the bones rubbing against each other. A herniated disk is when one of these disks either leaks or tears. This puts pressure on the nerves around your spinal cord.

Herniated disks can be caused by aging, lifting heavy objects, being overweight, repetitive bending or twisting motions, and sitting in the same position for long periods of time. Signs that you may have a herniated disk include:

• Back or neck pain
• Shooting pain down your arms or legs
• Pain around your shoulder blades
• Pain when you bend or turn your neck
• Tingling or numbness in your arms, legs, or feet

You may be able to treat your herniated disk without surgery by taking pain medications, doing exercises to strengthen your back, and attending physical therapy. Your doctor may even recommend just taking it easy and letting the disk heal on its own. However, if your symptoms don’t improve, or they get worse over time, you may need diskectomy surgery.

What happens during diskectomy surgery?

Depending on the nature of your herniated disk, your diskectomy can be performed in one of a few different ways. Most are minimally invasive and take about one to two hours to complete. During the surgery, you will be under anesthesia and won’t feel any pain. 

If you have an open diskectomy, your surgeon will make an incision on your back or neck. This gives them a clear view of the disk they’ll be operating on. They operate through the incision, using surgical instruments to either trim away part of the herniated disk or remove it entirely.

In a microdiskectomy, your surgeon will make multiple smaller incisions in your back. They’ll insert a small camera through one of them and use the video feed to observe the surgery. The other incisions are for the surgical instruments that they’ll need to remove part or all of the affected disk.

During either type of procedure, the surgeon may also need to remove a part of your vertebrae called the lamina (this procedure is called a laminotomy). If the entire disk is removed, they may replace it with a bone graft. This graft will help to fuse the two surrounding vertebrae together and add strength and stability to your spine. This procedure is called spinal fusion. 

What should you expect after diskectomy surgery?

Diskectomy surgery has high success rates for people whose pain is caused by compressed nerves in the spine. Pain, numbness, or tingling caused by the herniated disk should go away during your recovery from the surgery. However, the procedure doesn’t address the cause of the herniated disk. It is possible to reinjure your spine and need additional treatment.

Immediately after your surgery, you’ll be moved into a recovery room. Your medical team will monitor you as the anesthesia wears off. Unless you have pre-existing conditions or complications that make further medical care necessary, you should be able to go home the same day.

During your recovery, your doctor will ask you to walk every day to help increase blood flow and speed up the healing process. They may also give you physical therapy exercises to help strengthen your back muscles as you heal. You should take care to avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activities, such as running, biking, or aerobic exercise, until your doctor clears you for physical activity.

Recovery after a diskectomy can take up to a month or longer. For the best chance of a healthy, fast recovery, be easy on yourself. Don’t try to push yourself to do physical activity before you’re ready. Having patience during your recovery will help you get back to normal, so you can live life to the fullest without the constant pain of a herniated disk.

The first step to getting diskectomy surgery is finding a surgeon and healthcare facility that you trust. New Choice Health’s Spine Surgery Assist program can help with that. Fill out this simple form today, and one of our Care Coordinators will reach out to you with information about cost, financing, discounts, and healthcare providers for your procedure.

Spinal decompression surgery is a procedure used to relieve pressure from pinched nerves in the spine. The main cause of compressed nerves is a condition called spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spaces around your vertebrae. This can lead to pain in the lower back or neck, numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness. 

During spinal decompression surgery, portions of one or more vertebrae are shaved away near the pinched nerve to give it more space and allow it to heal. Here, we discuss the different types of spinal decompression surgery, as well as what you can expect from your procedure.

When do you need spinal decompression surgery?

Spinal decompression surgery is used to treat spinal stenosis, which is when certain spaces in your spine start to get more narrow. This leaves less room for your spinal cord and the nerves that branch off of it. When the spaces around your vertebrae and spinal cord get smaller, nerves around your spine may get pinched or irritated. Spinal stenosis can happen naturally as you age, or it can be caused by scoliosis or spinal injury.

For some, spinal stenosis can lead to back pain or sciatica. If your condition causes pain that affects your everyday life, your doctor may suggest spinal decompression surgery. Typically, you will try more conservative methods of pain relief first, such as medication or physical therapy. If those don’t help relieve your back pain, it may be time to look into surgery. 

The specific spinal surgery you get will depend on the location and severity of your compressed nerves. Specific factors that may lead you to consider surgery include:

• Your symptoms are severely affecting your quality of life
• You can no longer participate in or enjoy everyday activities
• You experience difficulty walking or maintaining your balance
• Your condition is affecting your bowel or bladder control
• You are having problems with sexual function

What are the different kinds of spinal decompression surgery?

Spinal stenosis can be caused by a variety of factors. These can include bone spurs on the vertebrae, herniated disks, tumors in the spinal cord, and spinal injuries. There are a few different types of spinal decompression surgery that can help give relief from pain and other symptoms. (We talk about one of them, diskectomy, in this blog post.) 

The other types of spinal decompression surgery are:

Laminectomy: During this procedure, a surgeon removes part of the lamina, which is the outer “roof” of the spinal canal. (The lamina is the part of the vertebra that you can feel if you reach back and touch your spine.) This removal widens your spinal canal and helps relieve any pressure on the nerves or spinal cord.

Laminotomy: This surgery is similar to a laminectomy, but the surgeon only removes a small part of the lamina instead of the entire thing. Your doctor may recommend a laminotomy if they can pinpoint the specific spot they need to remove to relieve your nerve pressure. 

Foraminotomy: This procedure is used to widen the opening in the center of one or more vertebrae (called the foramen) by surgically removing some bone and tissue.  This allows more room for your spinal cord and can take pressure off of any pinched nerves.

Foraminectomy: A foraminectomy is the same procedure as a foraminotomy, except it involves removing larger amounts of bone and tissue from the center of the vertebra. 

Sometimes, depending on the nature of the back pain, a surgeon may need to combine two of the above procedures. This means removing bone and tissue from both the lamina and the foramen. 

If your surgeon removes enough tissue and bone to make the spine less stable, they may combine these procedures with a spinal fusion. During spinal fusion surgery, a bone graft is inserted between two or more vertebrae to permanently fuse them together. This can restore stability and strength to the spine.

What can you expect after your foraminotomy or laminectomy procedure?

Your spinal decompression surgery should improve your symptoms, especially if your spinal stenosis was causing pain in your legs or arms. However, this procedure is less likely to improve your actual back pain. Your specific results will depend on the nature of your spinal stenosis, as well as your recovery process. Additionally, if you have severe arthritis, you may notice your pain returning over time.

To get the best results from your spinal decompression surgery, take care to follow your doctor’s advice about your recovery. They will give you specific guidelines for how much activity you can handle during the weeks and months following your procedure. They may also recommend physical therapy to help heal and strengthen your back as you recover after your surgery.

If you have painful pressure between your vertebrae that’s affecting your everyday life, spinal decompression surgery may be able to give you the relief you’ve been looking for. However, finding a top-quality surgeon at a fair price isn’t always easy. 

With New Choice Health’s Spine Surgery Assist program, you can find up-front cost information, financing, and discounts for your spinal decompression procedure. Then, when you’re ready, you can reach out to one of our Care Coordinators to help you schedule your surgery with a healthcare facility and surgeon that you trust.

Vertebral augmentation is a general term for any spinal surgery that uses bone cement to stabilize a fractured vertebra. As the cement hardens, it forms an internal cast inside your vertebrae that holds the bone together as it heals. This can also reduce your pain from the fracture. 

There are a few different types of vertebral augmentation surgery, but the main two are vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. 

Your doctor may recommend one of these procedures if you have a fractured vertebra that’s causing you pain. Vertebral augmentation surgeries are minimally invasive with short recovery times. They are usually performed as outpatient procedures, meaning that you can typically expect to go home the same day as your surgery.

Read on for an in-depth look at:

• Why you may want vertebral augmentation surgery
• The differences between vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty
• What you can expect before, during, and after your procedure

When should you get vertebral augmentation surgery?

Most of the time, vertebral augmentation surgeries are recommended to treat painful compression fractures in the spine. This set of procedures includes vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty, both of which can reduce and stabilize the effects of these fractures.

A vertebral compression fracture is when one or more of the bones in your spine crack and collapse. This can cause pain, deformity, and loss of height, stability, and mobility. Vertebral augmentation can help relieve pain and restore height and strength to the spine.

One of the most common causes of compression fractures is osteoporosis, a condition that can cause bones to become weak and brittle. If you have osteoporosis, fractures can sometimes be caused by mild stresses, including coughing, bending over, or falling.

Compression fractures can also be caused by cancerous tumors or trauma to the spine, such as from a car accident or sports injury. 

Vertebral augmentation surgeries are common because of their high success rates and short recovery times. They’re preferred over more invasive surgeries like spinal fusion because they come with lower risks, shorter surgical times and hospital stays, and faster recoveries.

What happens during vertebral augmentation surgery?

There are two main types of vertebral augmentation surgery: vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Both procedures involve injecting bone cement into fractured vertebrae. During vertebral augmentation surgery, you will either be given general anesthesia or local anesthesia and light sedation. Either way, you won’t feel pain during your procedure. 

During a vertebroplasty, the surgeon uses a hollow needle to inject bone cement directly into the fractured vertebrae. They use real-time x-ray images to guide the placement of the needle. When the cement dries, it acts as an internal cast to stabilize the bone as it heals from the fracture.

Kyphoplasty is similar to vertebroplasty, except the surgeon first uses the needle to insert a balloon into the fractured vertebrae. They inflate the balloon to restore height to the spinal column and create a space for the bone cement. Then, they inject the cement into the balloon, where it helps stabilize the vertebrae and compress the fracture fragments together as the bone heals.

Vertebral augmentation surgeries are typically outpatient procedures. Both vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty take about an hour to perform, and most patients are able to go home the same day. 

What are the risks and benefits of vertebral augmentation?

Vertebral augmentation procedures are common, and they’re considered a safe and effective way to treat fractured vertebrae. The surgery doesn’t require any incisions or stitches. Instead, you’ll only have a small nick in the skin from the needle, which should heal quickly.

After the procedure, patients usually experience an increase in mobility that allows them to return to their normal activity levels without pain. This increased activity can help combat osteoporosis and other conditions caused or worsened by immobility. It can also help you increase your physical fitness and build muscle, which can improve your mobility even more.

Like any procedure, vertebral augmentation comes with a small risk of minor complications, such as infection, allergic reaction to the bone cement, or bleeding at the puncture site. Rare side effects may include cement leakage, inflammation around the injection site, and blood clots.

Both vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are elective procedures, meaning that it’s ultimately your decision whether vertebral augmentation is the right option for you. To make an informed choice, you can talk with a doctor or surgeon familiar with your case. You can also do your own research online.

Remember, you always have the right to ask for a second opinion when you’re making decisions about your healthcare.

What can you expect from your recovery after vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty?

Right after your surgery, you may feel sore in the area where the bone cement was injected. This should go away within a few hours to a few days. Your surgeon may recommend putting ice on the area to help relieve any soreness. 

You’ll need someone to drive you home on the day of your surgery. Your doctor will advise when you can return to your normal activities, but it should either be the day of your procedure or the day after. However, strenuous activities (like heavy lifting or intense exercise) should be avoided for six weeks.

Most patients feel relief from their back pain almost immediately, though it can take up to three days for the pain to go away completely. After this procedure, 75% of patients find pain relief, regain lost mobility, and return to their normal activity levels.

If you have pain from a compression fracture that’s not going away with non-surgical treatments, vertebral augmentation may be the answer you’re looking for. As you research your options and decide whether this surgery is right for you, you may have questions about what you’ll be expected to pay. 

New Choice Health’s Spine Surgery Assist program can help you find a fair cost for your vertebral augmentation surgery, as well as cash pay discounts and financing that will reduce what you pay out-of-pocket for your procedure.

Spinal decompression surgery is a procedure that relieves pain, weakness, and other symptoms caused by compression of the spinal cord or the nerves branching out of it. Many spinal surgeries are minimally invasive. This means that you have a few small incisions that must heal after the procedure instead of one big one. These smaller incisions can help you heal faster after surgery and decrease your risk of complications. However, it doesn’t mean that you won’t need to take special precautions to care for your health during your spinal decompression surgery recovery.

How you approach your recovery can determine how quickly you heal. It can also impact how successful your surgery is at relieving the pain and other symptoms caused by the compressed nerves in your spine. Keep reading to learn what you should do after your back surgery to set yourself up for a healthy recovery. 

What happens immediately after your spinal decompression surgery?

After your surgery, you’ll be moved to a recovery room. There, your medical team will monitor you as your anesthesia wears off. If your procedure is performed at an outpatient surgery center, you’ll go home later that day. If it is performed in a hospital, your surgeon may keep you there for one to four days. During this time, your medical team will monitor your recovery.

The incisions from your spinal decompression surgery will be closed with stitches or staples. After your procedure, they will be covered with a sterile dressing to protect them as they heal. If your surgeon uses dissolvable stitches, you won’t have to go back to get them removed. If they use staples or non-dissolvable stitches, you’ll need to go back in five to ten days to have them removed.

During your spinal decompression surgery recovery, if you notice your wound becoming warm, opening up, getting more red or swollen, or draining extra fluid, you should call your surgeon.

When it’s time for you to go home after your surgery, you will not be able to drive yourself. So, before your surgery, you should make arrangements to have someone ready to pick you up when you’re discharged. Your surgeon will probably advise you to recline your car seat on the way home. 

Before you leave the hospital or surgery center, your surgeon will give you a list of guidelines to follow during your recovery. These will include limitations on your physical activity. Following these guidelines is one of the most important ways you ca n help yourself heal faster during your recovery.

When will you start feeling pain relief after your surgery?

Right after your procedure, you’ll probably feel some pain in the area near your surgical incisions. You’ll be given pain medication to help you manage your discomfort as you heal. Even though you’ll be dealing with pain from the surgery, you should quickly notice some relief in any leg or arm pain that was caused by the pinched nerve in your back.

After spinal decompression surgery, most patients see the fastest rate of pain relief in the first six weeks after their procedure. Any feelings of tingling or prickling should steadily decline in the three months after your surgery. If you were experiencing numbness in your arms or legs before your procedure, that should slowly go away over the next year.

The pain from the surgery itself should be gone within six weeks. You can expect your energy levels to return to normal around that time too. However, this does not mean that your spine is finished healing. Depending on your specific situation, that can take anywhere from three months to a year.

How long will it take for your activity levels to return to normal?

In the days right after your spinal decompression surgery, your focus will be on rest and recovery. However, you should still make sure to get up and walk for a little bit each day. This can help speed up the healing process. As you start to get stronger, you can increase your activity level by little bits each day. Your surgeon or physical therapist may give you specific exercises to do during spinal decompression surgery recovery. These can help strengthen your back as you heal and keep your muscles from getting stiff or sore.

To avoid injuring yourself, listen to your surgeon’s recommendations and try not to push yourself too hard. Other guidelines you may follow during your recovery include:

• Do not drive for at least two weeks after your surgery.
• Don’t ride in a car for longer than 30 minutes at a time for the first two to four weeks.
• Avoid bending at the waist or lifting your arms above your head.
• Don’t sit or stand in one position for longer than 30 minutes at a time. Staying active can help reduce your back pain while you heal.
• Don’t start any heavy household chores, such as laundry or vacuuming, before your doctor says you’re ready.
• Avoid strenuous exercise, such as jogging, biking, or swimming, until your surgeon says it is okay.

Depending on your job, you may be able to return to work as soon four to six weeks after your surgery. However, if your surgery was more severe — or your job is labor-intensive — you may need to stay home for up to six months while you heal. Your surgeon should be able to let you know how long you’ll need to be off work before you schedule your procedure.

What can you do to ensure a healthy and fast spinal decompression surgery recovery?

In addition to following your surgeon’s recommendations for walking, physical therapy, and other activities after your surgery, there are a few more things you can do to help you avoid complications during your recovery.

First, you can prepare your house for your recovery before you go in for your surgery. This can include putting foods and other important items at waist level, so you don’t need to bend or reach up to get the things you need. It may also include setting up a place to sleep on the first floor if your bedroom is upstairs.

Then, during your recovery, you can help yourself heal by eating healthy foods, quitting smoking, and reaching out to loved ones for help when you need it.

Making the decision to get spinal decompression surgery can be the first step to finally finding relief from your compressed nerve pain. If the high cost of medical care in the U.S. has you second-guessing whether you should seek the help you need, New Choice Health is here to help. Our Spine Surgery Patient Assist program can help you find financing options and cash pay discounts with some of the top surgeons in the country. Fill out this quick form to request more information today.

As your spinal decompression surgery gets closer, it’ll probably be at the forefront of your mind. You may feel a little anxious, but that’s perfectly normal. To help settle your nerves — and set yourself up for a successful recovery — there are a few things you can do to prepare for your spinal decompression surgery in the weeks leading up to your procedure.

Spinal decompression surgery can relieve nerve pressure and alleviate associated pain, numbness, weakness, and tingling. If spinal surgery is the best way for you to get relief from your symptoms, then you’ll benefit from making the extra effort to prepare yourself and your home for your surgery and recovery.

1. Eat a healthy diet.

In the days or weeks leading up to your surgery, you should try to incorporate vitamin- and mineral-rich foods into your diet. This includes foods like whole grains, yogurt, fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. Healthy foods like these can help reduce inflammation after your procedure and improve your odds of a healthy recovery. On the flip side, you should try to stay away from processed foods and red meats, which can have the opposite effect.

Pro tip: Post-surgery pain relievers can often cause constipation. Ask your doctor if you’ll need to take a fiber supplement or stool softener after your procedure to help keep your bowel movements regular.

2. Get fit before your surgery.

When you’re suffering from back pain, exercise may be the last thing on your mind. However, regular exercise in the weeks leading up to your surgery may help speed up your recovery. Even something simple as upping the number of steps you take each day to 5,000 or 10,000 can help your body prepare for your spinal decompression surgery. Just make sure to talk to your doctor before starting any new exercise routine. They can help make sure you don’t accidentally worsen your back injury before your procedure.

3. Quit smoking.

One of the most important things you can do to set yourself up for a successful recovery is to quit smoking at least a few weeks, if possible, before your surgery. It’s a big ask, but well worth it. Smoking before your surgery can increase your risk for post-surgery heart attacks, blood clots, pneumonia, and death. It can also interfere with your body’s ability to heal after your surgery. If you need help quitting, your doctor should be able to provide you with resources. You can also find free tools and tips at SmokeFree.gov.

4. Ask your doctor which medications you should avoid.

Two weeks before your surgery, you may need to stop taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and similar medications that can make it difficult for your blood to clot. This includes ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), aspirin, and naproxen (Aleve). 

You should make sure your doctor is aware of all medications (both prescription and over-the-counter), vitamins, and herbal supplements you’re currently taking. They’ll be able to tell you if any will interfere with your surgery or recovery. Ask them about which medications you should still take on the day of your surgery.

5. Set realistic expectations.

Overall, results from spinal decompression surgery are generally positive. However, there are limits to how much your surgery will be able to help your condition. Spinal decompression procedures can take pressure off of compressed nerves and provide relief for pain and other symptoms. Unfortunately, they do not address the conditions that caused the issue in the first place, such as arthritis, repetitive motions, heavy lifting, or poor posture. 

As you prepare for your spinal decompression surgery, talk with your doctor about what you can expect during your recovery. Ask them if there’s anything you can do to increase your chances of a healthy recovery and lower the risk of the pain coming back.

6. Prepare your home for your recovery.

After your spinal surgery, your mobility will be limited, which may make it difficult to get around your house. Your doctor will be able to give you an idea of what you’ll be capable of in the days following your surgery. You can use that information to prepare your home and make sure you’ll be able to access everything you need. To do this, you can:

• Prepare a space to sleep on the ground floor of your home, if your bedroom is upstairs.
• Put all the food you need at waist level, so you don’t have to bend down or reach up to grab anything.
• Make several healthy meals in the days before your surgery. That way, you don’t have to cook too much at the beginning of your recovery.
• Stock your freezer with easy-to-make foods.
• Buy any durable medical equipment you may need during your recovery, such as a toilet seat riser, folding walker, or back brace. (Ask your doctor about this beforehand to avoid spending money on anything you won’t need.)

7. Reach out to your support system.

Recovery from spinal decompression surgery is an ongoing process that may take weeks or months. Don’t be shy about letting people know you may need help during that time. By talking with your loved ones before your procedure, you can help set realistic expectations of what they can expect from you during your recovery. 

After your surgery, you may need help with things like cooking, picking up prescriptions, and cleaning. Having these conversations before your surgery will help ensure you get the support you need during your recovery.

Pro tip: If you have children or pets, you’ll probably need to make extra arrangements to help you take care of them while you’re healing from your spinal surgery.

8. Learn as much as you can about your surgery.

The key to preparing for any surgery is making sure you have a clear idea of what to expect beforehand. Ask what your different options are for your procedure — such as open vs. laparoscopic surgery and inpatient vs. outpatient care. Then, make sure you know how these options will affect your experience and your payment responsibility. Don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion!

Prepare for your spinal decompression surgery with New Choice Health

If you’re having trouble figuring out where to start, the Care Coordinators at New Choice Health’s Spine Surgery Assist program can help. Reach out today to learn about qualified surgeons in your area, cash pay discounts, and financing options for your spinal decompression surgery.

Back pain, whether you’ve had it for a few days or a few months, can make it difficult or impossible to live your life to the fullest. It can also lead to other symptoms, such as tingling, numbness, and a lack of mobility. These symptoms can affect how well you can perform everyday activities, such as bending and moving around. You may know you need to treat your back pain, but is it time to consider spinal surgery to treat your symptoms?

Many types of back pain, especially lower back pain, can be treated without surgery. For example, a doctor may recommend physical therapy, heat, and over-the-counter pain medications. These methods can usually help people find relief for back pain within a month. However, some spinal conditions can only be treated through surgery.

Read on for six signs that you should talk to your doctor about back surgery.

1. Your back pain lasts for over a month.

In 75 to 90% of people, lower back pain goes away on its own within a month. If your back pain lingers for more than a month or two, it may mean that you need medical treatment beyond what you can do at home.

When you first start experiencing back pain, home remedies such as heat, ice, and over-the-counter pain medications, may help relieve some of your symptoms. If your back doesn’t start to heal on its own, then you may need to consider additional treatments.

2. You’ve already tried non-surgical treatments.

If you’re living with back pain that hasn’t gone away with the home remedies listed above, there are a few other options you can try before you consider spinal surgery. In fact, your doctor probably won’t even want to talk about spinal surgery before trying out at least a few less-invasive treatments.

The specific treatments they recommend will depend on the cause and severity of your condition. Non-surgical treatments for back pain can include:

• Acupuncture
• Cognitive therapy
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) 
• Chiropractic care (spinal manipulation and spinal mobilization)
• Spinal injections (steroids and local anesthetics)
• Physical therapy (strengthen core and support lower back)

3.  Your pain is affecting your quality of life.

When you can’t find relief from more conservative treatment options — or you can only find temporary relief — back pain can start to negatively impact your quality of life. If your pain is persistent and it keeps you from performing everyday activities, or if your spinal condition is affecting your balance or mobility, it may be a sign that you should consider spinal surgery.

Some conditions, such as spinal stenosis and herniated disks, can compress the nerves in your spine. This can cause tingling, numbness, muscle weakness, and pain that radiates down your arms and legs. Other conditions may make your spine unstable, affecting its ability to support your body as you go about your day. In these cases, spinal surgery may be needed to help you avoid permanent loss of strength or stability in your back.

4. You can pinpoint the cause of your back pain.

It’s not always easy to figure out what’s causing your back pain and related symptoms. Doctors can use x-rays and other imaging technology to look for issues in your spinal column. They may find evidence of bone spurs or herniated disks on your x-rays. However, they can’t always be sure that those factors are responsible for your pain. Sometimes, those conditions won’t cause any symptoms and, therefore, won’t need any treatment. 

The more confident your healthcare provider is that they’ve found the source of your back pain, the better chance you’ll have that spinal surgery will actually help with your symptoms. This is where seeking second (or third) opinions and seeing a spinal specialist come in. The more you know about your condition, the better you’ll be able to make decisions about your surgery.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases recommends spinal surgery for patients with:

• Degenerative disc disease caused by aging
• A ruptured or herniated disk and damage to one or more disks
• Spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis
• Spondylolisthesis and one or more bones that have slipped out of place
• Spinal stenosis that narrows the spinal column, putting pressure on the spinal cord and nearby nerves

5. You have pain that radiates down your arms or legs.

Some back conditions, such as herniated disks and bone spurs, can put pressure on the nerves around your spinal column. This nerve pressure can cause pain that radiates down your arms or legs, called radiculopathy. If you’re dealing with this kind of radiating pain, surgery may be an effective way to ease your symptoms.

Surgery can allow a doctor to go in, remove the source of pressure in your spine, and create more space for your spinal canal. (That’s the hollow space in the middle of your vertebrae that houses and protects your spinal cord and connecting nerves). They do this by shaving away the part of bone and spinal tissue that’s pressing on your nerves and causing your symptoms. 

6. Your symptoms have suddenly gotten worse.

If you notice your back pain creating more severe symptoms, you should contact a healthcare professional right away. Some signs to look out for include:

• Sudden weakness in your legs: This can be caused by compressed nerves in your spine, but sudden leg weakness may also be a sign of a stroke.
• Incontinence: If you have back pain and you find yourself unable to control your bladder or bowels, it may indicate that the nerve compression has gotten more severe. Incontinence may also be a sign of an infection in your spine.
• Numbness or tingling pain in your glutes or groin: This pins and needles feeling in your midsection may indicate severe nerve compression or other condition in your spine.

When symptoms associated with back pain suddenly become more severe, surgery is often needed to prevent permanent damage or disability.

Questions to ask if you’re considering spinal surgery

If any of the above signs apply to you, it may be time to talk to your healthcare provider about your options for spinal surgery. The more you know about the procedure, the better prepared you’ll be for the surgery and recovery. The following questions can help guide you as you choose your surgery, your healthcare facility, and your surgeon:

• What are the risks of this surgery? How could they affect my life?
• What is the success rate for this surgery? 
• What are the chances that this surgery will heal my back pain?
• Is there anything specific I should do to prepare for spinal surgery?
• What will my life look like after this surgery? 
• What will my life look like if I don’t have this surgery?
• What can I expect during my recovery from spinal surgery?
• How long will I have to wait before returning to work (or any other physical activities that are important to you)?
• How long has the surgeon been performing this surgery? 
• Does the surgeon have any patient reviews?
• Do my doctor and surgeon both recommend this procedure?

If you’re unsure whether back surgery is the right option for you, you can always seek out a second opinion from a qualified spine specialist. When you’re sure that you’re ready to get spinal surgery, your next question will probably be about how much the procedure will cost.

Too often, uninsured and underinsured patients are often forced to decide between living with chronic back pain and paying the high medical costs associated with spine surgery. With New Choice Health’s Spine Surgery Assist program, you can find spinal surgery options with top quality surgeons at fair, affordable prices.