Patients suffering with serious back pain or neck pain sometimes opt for spinal surgery when they believe they have exhausted all options for treatment. The risks and complications of surgery are real and must be considered seriously. We encourage everyone to become informed about therapeutic light laser therapy and non-surgical spinal decompression, before agreeing to undergo the surgeon’s knife. If you are considering spinal (back) surgery to relieve your low back pain or neck pain, you must read on. This article discusses the specific risks and complications of nerve damage.

Spinal Surgery
Spinal surgery of the cervical (upper), thoracic (middle) or lumbar (lower) spinal regions is usually performed to remove any excess bone or soft tissue that may be pressing upon spinal nerves, which govern the functions of many organ systems and extremities. It is undue pressure on nerves that is the source of serious, chronic back pain and neck pain. Any number of conditions may be the cause of the unnatural pressure: bulging or ruptured disc, bone spur formation, bone fragments from trauma, chronic degeneration.

There are different spinal surgery procedures. The most common surgeries are, microdiscectomy, laminectomy and spine fusion.

The fact that spinal surgery occurs so close to the actual spinal cord and affected spinal nerves makes it a very delicate procedure. One false move by the surgeon can cause lifelong nerve damage or even paralysis. Besides human error, there are real and serious risks to spinal surgery that must be understood and carefully considered. Know the risks and potential outcomes before you make a final decision to allow a surgeon to operate on your spine.

Nerve Damage
The spinal cord contains and is surrounded by delicate nerves. Any time surgery is done on the spine, there is risk of injury or damage to any of these nerves. Nerve damage can result in a compromised nerve signal to the body part affected by the particular nerve. Movement or sensation might be affected. In rare cases of nerve injury, there can be organ failure or paralysis. In extreme cases of autonomic nerve injury, the patient can die.

Functional Loss
Nerve damage or injury can result in functional loss. This is a rare but real risk. Depending upon the pathology and problems the patient is encountering before surgery, functional loss can range from mild, transient partial loss of sensation or movement, to a serious loss of basic bodily functions.

Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injury can occur from instruments used during surgery, from swelling, or from scar formation after surgery. Damage to the spinal cord can cause paralysis in certain areas and not others. Injured nerves can cause pain, numbness, or weakness in the area supplied by the nerve.

Paralysis
If during back surgery there is injury to the spinal cord or an infection sets in, paralysis may occur. This is rare, but the risk is still there.

Recommendation Before You Sign Up for Back Surgery
Every week at Back Clinics of Canada we see patients who have undergone back surgery. These post-surgical patients all tried just about every conventional back pain treatment available – physiotherapy, chiropractic, RMT, acupuncture, bed rest, pain medication—to heal their spines and free them from their pain. Then they opted for surgery because they believed they exhausted all their pain treatment options.

These patients come to our Toronto back clinic because they’re not happy with their surgery results and still live with serious pain.

In most cases, they suffer from a spinal condition that could be treated with therapeutic light laser therapy and non-surgical spinal decompression.

Before you sign up for spinal surgery consider therapeutic light laser therapy and non-surgical spinal decompression. Treatments are non-invasive, non-surgical, involves no drugs or medication. THERE ARE NO RISKS OR COMPLICATIONS WITH THERAPEUTIC LIGHT LASER THERAPY OR NON-SURGICAL SPINAL DECOMPRESSION. Treatments have been successful for so many patients, including those who had failed surgery. (Sadly though, post-surgical patients who’ve had a spinal fusion with hardware or other implants in their spines, complete laminectomies or vertebral fractures, are NOT candidates for our care—All the more reason to consider this treatment.)

Back Clinics of Canada goal is to help as many as possible Canadians avoid back surgery if possible and live a pain free life. The risks and complications of spinal surgery are too many and too serious—for a procedure that might not even work. Spinal surgery is a good medical tool when it is appropriate. Surgery offers no guarantees. Please, consider surgery as a LAST RESORT.

Back Clinics of Canada encourages patients with serious back and neck pain to at least undergo a free consultation and examination to see if they can be helped with therapeutic light laser therapy and if they qualify for non-surgical spinal decompression.

You deserve a pain-free life!