“For all the misery it causes, 80% to 90% of back pain resolves with only “conservative measures” (which include anti-inflammatory drugs, rest, heat, physical therapy and chiropractic treatments). “Sometimes it take days to weeks, sometimes it takes weeks to months, but pain lasts more than three months in only about 10% of cases,” says Michael J. Yaszemski, chief of orthopedic spine surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.”

“Whether to operate even in those remaining cases is controversial, he says. With acute lumbar disc herniation, studies have found that two and five years later, there’s little difference between patients who had surgery and those who did not. But surgery can sometimes provide relief faster.”  I would add that surgery also comes with some possible severe side effects including death and blindness.

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