Back Surgery

If the reader is considering the alternative surgical option and turns himself over to a surgeon for a solution, I must first reveal a sobering statistic. In a study by Weber(25), 280 patients were evaluated over a ten year period. At the end of one year, 90% of surgical patients reported a satisfactory outcome compared with only 60% of the conservatively treated group. However, 25% of the conservatively treated group over the ten year period resorted to surgery. At ten years, this difference disappeared, indicating that surgery is initially helpful but the outcome at the ten year point is largely the same with or without surgery. Revealing another interesting statistic, 40% of conservatively treated patients are not satisfied as much as ten years later. This would seem to indicate that, over the long term, state-of-the-art management (surgical or conservative) fails to satisfy at least 40% of back pain sufferers.

When comparing the efficacy of non-surgical versus surgical management of disc disease, no significant difference in recovery of function has been reported between patients whose herniated discs resolved spontaneously and those whose herniated discs were surgically removed.(26) However, when using my method, the relief achieved cannot be considered spontaneous. It will come, if it does, as a consequence of directed therapy, the proof being in the rapidity of relief, in most cases. The future will determine how successful The O'Connor Technique (tm) is when it is compared against surgical intervention; my conviction is that it will be found superior in the long run.

It is with this thought that I temporarily abandon discussion on surgical remedies until the reader has had a chance to acquaint himself with the terminology of the disc, its anatomy, and pathology. At this point, my intention is to give an alternative to surgery and only after having exhausted the opportunities offered through The O'Connor Technique (tm) should surgery be realistically considered. Therefore, in the OPTIONAL THERAPIES Chapter, a more thorough presentation of the surgical options is made and we will here direct our attention to the non-surgical, physical therapy alternatives.

Article Contents:
You are not alone
The Pain
Contemporary Perspective on Back Pain
Historical Perspective of Back Pain
Science and Art
Alternative Therapeutic Modalities
Back Surgery
Comparative Programs
Not an Excercise Program
Dismissing the "Psychological" Contribution To Spinal Pain
Getting Better as a Process
Become your own Chiropractor
Hope

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