Bone spur surgery may seem like a scary idea, especially if you are not familiar with what this surgery entails. If you have a bone spur in your spine and have been recommended for surgery, you will probably hear a few different types of surgery mentioned such as laminotomy, laminectomy, foraminotomy, discectomy and spinal fusion. These surgeries can be performed using multiple approaches, depending on where your spinal bone spur is located and how advanced your condition is. Read this article to learn more about your treatment options.
Conservative treatments to try before considering surgery
Before your physician recommends that you consider bone spur surgery, it is likely that he or she will give you a series of nonsurgical conservative treatment options to try. These may include:
- Physical therapy
- Stretching
- Over-the-counter or prescription pain medication
- Low-impact exercise
- Hot and cold compresses
- Corticosteroid injections
These treatments generally provide pain reduction when used consistently over the course of several weeks or months. If you are still experiencing a significant level of pain despite the use of the conservative treatment methods such as these, surgery may be the next viable option.
Traditional open back surgery
This is one of the two surgical approaches available when it comes to treating a spinal bone spur. Traditional bone spur surgery typically involves a 6-to-8-inch incision in the neck, back or abdomen as well as cutting into or even detaching the large muscles that surround the spine. With traditional surgery, you can expect to spend two to five days in the hospital followed by a long recovery time.
Minimally invasive spine surgery
USA Spine Care performs minimally invasive spine surgery to treat bone spurs and other common spine conditions. Rather than making large incisions and requiring extended recovery periods, our outpatient procedures involve a less than 1-inch incision and our patients are up and walking the same day.^
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of our minimally invasive surgery and how it can help you alleviate the pain you are experiencing from your spinal bone spur, contact USA Spine Care today. We can even provide you with a free MRI review* to help determine if you are a candidate for our outpatient procedures.
