Back Surgery Odds? 50/50

Backaches and sciatica image.

Did you know that each year, approximately 600,000 back operations are performed in the United States? Did you also know that up to half of these often-unnecessary surgeries wind up leaving the patient with what has become known as "Failed Back Surgery Syndrome?" What’s interesting is, no other surgery has such a syndrome! For instance, have you ever heard of "Failed Appendectomy Surgery Syndrome?"

Failed Back Surgery Syndrome results when a patient experiences pain or some type of physical incapacitation from a back condition that was supposed to have been relieved by surgery.

Poor judgment on the part of the surgeon who recommended the procedure in the first place is often the cause. Spine, one of the world’s most respected medical journals, reported that more than 90% of all patients with herniated discs would get better without surgery by undergoing "conservative" chiropractic care. Spine goes on to say that, "Over time, most patients with disc herniations recover with or without surgery, so that outcomes after five years are similar when surgical and non-surgical approaches are compared..." So what Spine is actually saying here is – it makes no difference whether you do or don’t have the surgery, the results are the same!

Chiropractic care may help you avoid unnecessary, and unsuccessful, back surgery. Already suffering from Failed Back Surgery Syndrome? We can probably help with that too. Call our practice and find out!


Dr. Hassel Asks some important questions of interest to West Des Moines residents - Chiropractor West Des Moines Dr. Hassel Asks...

Can someone who has had back surgery receive chiropractic care?
Yes. Rest assured that we will avoid the surgically modified areas of your spine. However, what we find is that surgical interventions will often produce spinal instability above or below the involved level. This is will be the focus of your chiropractic care.
What's the difference between maintenance, prevention and wellness?
Maintenance chiropractic care is an attempt to keep a dynamic, ever-changing and adapting organism (you) in a static relationship with your environment. Preventive chiropractic care is mostly about early detection. Wellness chiropractic care is an attempt to optimize our health and be all that you were designed to be.