The news that you may need spinal surgery can cause many emotions: hope that you may find more pain relief, fear about the procedure and recovery, and confusion about what to do next. Before you make a decision, take steps to empower yourself by learning everything you can about your condition, your treatment options, and your surgeon.

Know the cause of your pain

Identifying the cause of your pain is different from finding out what is anatomically wrong with your back.

For example, you may have a herniated disc that shows up on an MRI scan, but if that is not the cause of your pain, then surgery for the herniated disc (usually a microdiscectomy) will not help you find pain relief. You and your doctor(s) should be able to articulate the precise pain generator before surgery is even considered.

Many practitioners believe that one of the most common causes of failed back surgery syndrome (continued pain after surgery) is an improper diagnosis prior to surgery.

See Getting an Accurate Back Pain Diagnosis

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Get a referral to a good spine surgeon

Ask your current treating physician to refer or recommend one or more good spine surgeons. Because there's no perfect way to evaluate and compare surgeon competencies, your physician will likely have to rely on word of mouth and anecdotal data.

Referring physicians can get a sense of the surgeon's qualifications through knowing whether a surgeon has been fellowship-trained in spine surgery, the number of back surgeries they may have performed, and whether spine surgery is a significant part of their practice.

Be well prepared for your medical consultation

When you're in pain, it can be difficult to describe your situation to your doctor in a complete, concise, and accurate manner. Meeting a spine surgeon can also be overwhelming and intimidating. Researching likely questions ahead of time can help. Be prepared to discuss your medical history (including your family's history), details about your pain, and your expectations about the proposed surgery and its results.

Evaluate the referred spine surgeon

Before the first visit, a patient can start evaluating a particular spine surgeon by going to a spine surgeon's webpage (which should list training, areas of specialty, practice philosophy, etc.) and to professional medical associations' websites that list information on spine surgeons who are members.

During your visit, be prepared to interview your prospective spine surgeon. Find out the spine surgeon's success rate for the particular surgery. The surgeon should have data to share with potential new patients. You may also ask to speak with other patients who have gone through the same procedure with this surgeon.

If a spine surgeon does not allow questions or acts disdainful of being questioned, consider interviewing another surgeon with whom you may be more comfortable.

See Red Flags to Notice When Choosing a Spine Surgeon

Do your research

Comparing the surgeon's opinion and information to what has been published in reliable sources (such as physician-written, independent, peer-reviewed articles on the Internet) can help you determine their practice philosophy and if their treatment options are reasonable and generally accepted.

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Reaffirm your decision to have spine surgery—or not

The decision about whether or not to undergo back surgery for chronic pain is almost always up to the patient (except in certain medical emergencies or life-threatening conditions). Your surgeon should be able to give you enough information about the pros and cons of the procedure to help you decide.

There are many highly effective surgical and nonsurgical options to treat a variety of spinal conditions. But only you can decide if the particular procedure, its scope, healing time, expected rate of pain relief, and the referred spine surgeon are right for you.

Learn more:

What to Expect from Spine Surgery for Low Back Pain

Back Surgery and Neck Surgery Overview

Dr. Larry Parker is an orthopedic surgeon at the Spine Center at TOC in Huntsville, AL. Dr. Parker has specialized in spine surgery for more than 25 years. He has given several scientific presentations and published numerous papers in medical journals.

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