To do it- or not to do it...That is the Question

Last week I had a 66 year old male patient come in who had been suffering with neck pain, arm pain and headaches for 3-4 months. He went to his family doctor and was prescribed anti-inflammatory and steroids to take which helped only minimally. He was then told to go to a neurosurgeon for a consultation. At that consultation he was told, after the results of an MRI came back, that he needed surgery for arthritic and disk issues. 

At that point, although he had a decent amount of symptoms- he was sleeping fine, working normally, and his life really wasn't effected to a large degree even though he had these symptoms. The neurosurgeon said you need surgery. At this point, this patient had no treatment done, nothing conservative done, and no hands on therapy of any sort yet he was told he needed surgery. Someone had been to my office and told him to give us a call. He came in and I was so annoyed at the surgeon. How can a competent Doctor tell a patient you need the most invasive treatment before suggesting some conservative possibilities- it is a crime and makes me very angry!

Great photo courtesy of Dr. Randolph, Chiropractor, in Pearland, TX.

I started to work on this patient and although he still has a certain amount of his symptoms, he is much improved and absolutely doesn't need surgery. 

This scenario unfortunately is repeated out there 1000's and 1000's of times a year. I am not saying that sometimes surgery isn't necessary, I just implore all of you to seek out conservative possibilities before you do the most invasive treatment because most often these conservative methods can be very effective. I wanted to call up the surgeon and yell at him, but my patient didn't let me- good thing too. Anytime anyone out there has any questions concerning this scenario, please do not hesitate to give the office a call. We are here to help, but if I don't think I can, I will tell you that also.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Yours in good health,

Dr. Ray and Staff