Low Back Surgery – Money For the Surgeon Or Help For the Patient?

Lower back disc surgeries are expensive! As a claims adjuster several years ago I paid for hundreds of surgeries done by well-meaning surgeons who charged $10,000-$12,000 per surgery. I had one surgeon who would actually perform 2 surgeries per day. While I was in charge of paying disability benefits, medical claims, and permanent disability, the vast majority of the money went to medical doctors and surgeons. Often, a lower back disc surgery claim would cost at least $60,000.

In order to perform 2 surgeries per day, office staff including nurse practitioners and physician assistants are the ones who see the patients before and after surgery. This kind of impersonal service is what is required to make $20,000 per day. At that rate, is the focus on the patient or finances of the office and surgeon?

While most surgeons and doctors in general have their hearts in the right place, it is difficult to stay focused when you are seeing patients. Similar symptoms appear to be duplicate patients and individual attention is not given including possible side effects and alternatives to surgery.

After seeing hundreds of patients have surgery, when I was an adjuster, I quite my job with the aim of trying to help some avoid the surgeries they were recommended. I went to chiropractic school in order to help the very people I was seeing suffering. While some recover after having surgery, most end up the same or worse than when they started; at least 50% of all surgery cases I’ve seen have failed and lead to devastating outcomes.

Our medical director at the insurance company where I worked explained that repeat surgeries are likely in the case of lumbar disc surgery. He told us that as a result surgeries were actually job security for surgeons. A surgeon could count on repeat business as most people return to their original surgeon for additional care.

Herniated discs pinch on the sensitive nervous system tissue and nerves which exist the spine. Chiropractic and physical therapy modalities can help to allow the body to heal this problem on its own. Surgery is not the only answer when a disc has herniated. Chiropractic relieves the pressure on the nerves and allows the person to return to normal activities. I have seen over the last 10 year plus, hundreds of people saved from the devastating effects of lumbar disc surgery.

The research and medical community knows that starting with the least invasive therapy first makes sense. It’s cost effective, has less side effects, and respects the best wishes of the patient. Chiropractic is gentle and has virtually no possible side effects in these types of cases.

However, often the money involved in high dollar medical cases can cloud the judgment of the doctor and the patient.

Find out how to avoid back surgery through natural means and avoid all of the possible side effects and catastrophic problems associated with surgery. If you’d like to learn more about how to avoid back surgery visit our website.