 | I don’t want surgery for my back pain. Should I still make an appointment? |
| | Yes. We treat the majority of our patients non-surgically with great success. In fact, surgery is recommended in a small percentage of patients based on their condition, and usually after conservative treatment options have been tried without success. The critical first step to ensuring the best treatment approach for spine conditions is an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis. Spine Care Specialists is the only group in the area with fellowship trained Spine surgeons with world-class training and a dedicated focus on spine care. They ensure that all patients are treated appropriately with the best possible outcomes at all times. |
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| | How painful is spine surgery? |
| | Most spine surgery does result in some post-operative soreness that is controlled with pain medication. Most patients are weaned off their pain medications within 2-weeks of surgery. In case of surgeries performed using the latest minimally invasive techniques, the post-operative discomfort is significantly reduced. |
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| | Is all spine surgery bad? |
| | Spine Care Specialists is conservative in its treatment approach. Surgical treatments are recommended only after conservative and minimally invasive treatment options have failed or are not felt to be appropriate. In the event that surgery is required, our approach is geared towards ensuring the best outcomes for our patients. We believe strongly in performing only those procedures that have been validated in the literature. We remain at the forefront of spine developments, and where appropriate perform surgeries using the latest techniques with proven outcomes. In addition, our operating practices are geared towards decreasing the operative time, with significantly reduced recovery times, and low post-operative complications. |
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| | I have heard that spine surgeries take many hours to perform and involve a lot of blood loss. Is this true? |
| | At Spine Care Specialists, two board-certified and fellowship-trained spine surgeons team up for each case. This is done with a view to decreasing the operative time, which in turn significantly reduces the recovery times and lowers the post-operative complications. In fact, most of our surgeries are performed in less than 2 hours with minimal blood loss, and many procedures can be performed in less than 30 – 40 minutes, thereby requiring only a few hours of post-operative stay. |
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| | Will I need more surgery in the future if I get surgery now? |
| | Recent literature has advanced our understanding of the local anatomy, and highlighted the importance of preserving the surrounding tissue that are not a source/cause of pain. Minimally invasive techniques and other technical considerations that we now take into account have dramatically reduced the incidence and degree of adjacent level disease associated with previous spine surgery. |
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| | Is there a difference between Neurosurgery and Orthopaedic Spine Surgery? |
| | There are two different pathways for surgeons to become spine surgeons, Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery. The critical issues for patients to probe with their prospective surgeons are twofold- Is your spine surgeon fellowship-trained in spine surgery, and Is your surgeon's practice dedicated solely to treating conditions of the spine.
Spine Care Specialists is the only group with two Board-certified and Fellowship-trained spine surgeons in the South Suburbs of Chicago and Northwest Indiana, with a practice that is dedicated solely to treating Spine conditions. Because we have a dedicated spine practice, we care for a high volume of spine patients (over 500 Spine Surgical cases a year, thereby maintaining unparalleled skills. |
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| | I live in the South Suburbs of Chicago - how far is Spine Care Specialists from Illinois? |
| | We treat many patients form the South Suburbs of Chicago, and are located just minutes from the Illinois border. |
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| | Why should I choose Spine care Specialists? |
| | We deliver state-of-the-art spine care with an emphasis on personal care and attention to each and every patient in a warm and friendly environment. We have a highly experienced Spine care team that strives to ensure seamless end-to-end care for our patients. Our surgeons are the only board-certified and fellowship-trained spine surgeons in the area with a practice that is dedicated solely to treating spine conditions. Our state-of-the-art facility allows us to deliver the full spectrum of spine care to our patients, including in-house imaging and rehabilitation services.
We recognize the special considerations involved with treating the injured worker. Our systems are geared towards reducing unnecessary delays for case workers. Our treatment approach is focused on shortening the recovery period for the injured worker, while minimizing patient discomfort at all times. |
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