BEATING BACK PAIN – What the experts want you to know
Surgery usually isn’t the answer
Most backache gets better on its own within weeks, but even with longer-lasting or recurrent pain, an operation won’t often help. Exercise and non-surgical spinal treatments are usually more successful.
‘Surgery isn’t off the table completely,’ says back-specialist physiotherapist Neil Velleman (). ‘If the pain isn’t responding to more conservative treatments or if nerves are being pinched, leading to neurological problems, numbness or bladder and bowel problems, then it would be a definite option. But surgery is certainly the last resort,
