Help For Pain When Back Surgery Fails

By Kristoffer Ryan A. de Lara, MD

National Spine & Pain Centers

. http://www.treatingpain.com

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Help For Pain When Back Surgery Fails

Spine surgeons perform back surgery to reduce or eliminate a patient's chronic back or leg pain due to a spinal nerve compression. If you've had back surgery and didn't get the relief you had hoped for, you're not alone. In fact, more than 20% of Americans who undergo spine surgery each year still have some degree of persistent back or leg pain afterwards. Failed back surgery, or FBS, is used to describe this condition.

If you are suffering from FBS, there is hope. With accurate diagnosis, FBS can be treated very effectively without surgery.

The Causes Of Post-Surgical Pain

There are a variety of factors that may cause FBS. In many instances, the spinal nerve root, which has been decompressed by the surgery, does not fully recover from its prior trauma and continues to be a source of chronic nerve pain. In other instances, the chronic pain associated with FBS has to do with the body's natural way of healing.

Part of the healing process includes scar formation, which in some instances can surround the nerve roots and give rise to chronic pain. Another relatively common occurrence is structural changes in the spine that develop above or below the site of a spinal fusion.

Other causes include recurrent or new disc herniation, post-operative spinal or pelvic ligament instability, and myofascial pain, a chronic muscular pain disorder. Unfortunately, when any one of these problems occurs, you don't get the relief you had hoped for with back surgery.

Know the Symptoms

The symptoms of FBS depend on the cause. One of the most obvious signs that you may have FBS is if you continue to experience pain similar to the pain you had prior to surgery.

Other signs that you could be suffering from FBS involve symptoms that include dull and achy pain that is primarily located in the back and spinal column. You can also experience sharp, pricking, and stabbing pain, called neuropathic pain, that radiates from the back down the legs.

As with any condition, getting a precise diagnosis from a board certified pain specialist is a critical step to determining the most effective treatment to get the relief you seek from post-surgical pain.

Get Effective Pain Relief Without Surgery

Every patient experiences unique symptoms and circumstances, so it's important to get a customized treatment plan to address your post-surgical pain.

Proven to be safe and effective, there are a number of advanced non-surgical procedures that are performed in a sterile, office-based setting without general anesthesia or hospital stays. Many, who have not gained pain relief through surgery, benefit from the help of these non-surgical approaches.