If you’re considered to be a candidate for spinal bone spur surgery, you’ll likely have some questions for your physician or surgeon about your options and outcomes. When you sit down with your medical care providers to discuss your potential surgery, there are a few questions outlined below that you should bring up so you’ll know what to expect from a procedure.

Question one: what does the procedure entail?

What will the surgeon be doing? How long does the surgery typically take? Your physician or surgeon will likely have answered these questions for you already, but make sure that you understand what was said. Feel free to ask for clarification of anything that seems vague or confusing to you, or request a more detailed explanation of the procedure if you feel you need it.

Question two: what are some of the risks associated with bone spur surgery?

Every surgery presents some risks and potential side effects. However, check with your medical professional to discuss the risks specific to your spinal bone spur surgery. Your physician or surgeon can explain the potential effects of the surgery and complications that may arise. This discussion shouldn’t frighten you. Instead, it should allow you to make a more informed decision about your health care. With your physician’s help, you can consider the likelihood of possible complications and weigh them against the potential benefits of your procedure to determine whether you want to undergo surgery.

Question three: what kind of a recovery should I expect?

Although every human body is different, your physician or surgeon should be able to give you an estimate of how long you’ll need to recover from your bone spur surgery and other information about the healing process. You can ask when you can expect to return to driving, working or performing certain household tasks, for example. Note that the surgeon or physician’s answers are not set in stone; if you choose to undergo the procedure, the estimate may change due to your specific case.

Question four: are there other alternatives that I should know about?

If you’re considering a traditional spinal bone spur surgery, be sure to explore possible minimally invasive options. Although not every patient is a potential candidate, outpatient procedures like those offered by USA Spine Care’s board-certified surgeons+ are safer and effective alternatives to traditional open spine surgery and offer no lengthy recovery as well as a lower risk of complication.

To learn about these minimally invasive spinal bone spur surgery options and how we can help you on the road to recovery, contact USA Spine Care and ask for a free MRI review.* Our spine experts can review your case and let you know if our procedures would be effective for relieving your bone spur symptoms.