I got this Via Ezra Klien
If you’ve never suffered the agony of low back pain, don’t worry—chances are you will. About two-thirds of adults are hit with low back pain at some time in their lives, and for many the pain is sufficiently unbearable to send them hobbling into the doctor’s office. Yet although back pain is one of the most common conditions around, and although it costs billions of dollars each year in lost productivity, doctors still disagree over everything from how to diagnose the cause to what to do about it. The vast majority of low back pain—even the excruciating nerve sensation known as sciatica—goes away, inexplicably, on its own. There’s little evidence that the two most common surgical treatments, known as spinal fusion and discectomy, are necessarily better than such nonsurgical remedies as over-the-counter painkillers and physical therapy. Practically every aspect of back pain, from the terminology to various treatments to the imaging tests, like MRIs and X-rays, used to diagnose it, is fraught with confusion and controversy.
Spinal fusion surgery is pretty nasty, I know 3 people who have had the surgery and non of them can walk normally and two of the three have severe arthritis in their knees. All of them had the operation to correct scholiosis(a curvature of the spine) when they were in their teens, Afterwards they were unable to excercise for a few years, which led to weight gain and has probably contributed to many of their adult health problems.
In all of their cases they were told that the surgery would prevent the pain and disabilities that were inevitible from Scholiosis.
It seems that the potential for problems down the road is a better outcome than the certainity of major problems after a very invasive surgery. Most surgeons are probably smart enough to know this as well so you have to wonder why they are so eager to perform back surgery. It might have something to do with the money they receive for these procedures. As long as American doctors continue to act in their own best interests rather than the interests of the the American people will continue to receive the most expensive and in many ways the worst care in the world.