Cameron, I've had my first lower back PAIN at 18 and I'll be 77 soon. I got thru life and plan to get thru the rest without any back surgery. I have a couple MRI's from the last 5 yrs or so and they read like great puzzles.....I know there are good outcomes and there are horrid outcomes with back, hip, knee, etc surgeries. So it's a crapshoot as I see it and I've heard stories, one surgery leads to another etc.

I just talked some sense into my 72 brother a couple months ago as his doc said he "needed" a back surgery....fusion and lam job. He didn't do research, talk to many but heard the word "need" from the surgeon. I gave him a pep talk on good stretches and exercises etc. He's been a golfer all his life and ended up with the golfer's back as many do.

I went thru a hip replacement at 72 and I'll be 77 soon and it's been a nightmare with all the complications I ended up with, never dreamed this would be my outcome.

So I'm burned more than ever on the surgery road...as a PRP and Stem Cell MD I know here in LA and he's on radio every weekend trying to help those thinking of surgery or living with their messes from surgeries, he is forever saying: Do the least invasive of all treatments, surgery is not conservative, very invasive. An emergency is another story.

He talks about patients coming in every day with regrets for doing surgeries...about his own path from UCLA Medical School, his plan was to be a surgeon, but after a messed up shoulder surgery by one of his professors, he changed his path and went into Prolotherapy which for many decades was dextrose prolo and more advanced treatments are PRP and Stem Cells which he does both for joint issues.

I've had dextrose prolo in one shoulder over 6 yrs ago and got 3 yrs relief, no pain for 3 yrs....dextrose is the lowest cost prolo work but not really good enough for really chronic issues, hence the PRP and Stem Cells which so many practioners are now doing.

Sadly, our insurance world does not pay for these OFTEN effective treatments.

I've ended up with messed up worse knee and foot/ankle mess from this hip job, so I deal with it daily, but FOR ME, steer clear of more surgery.

This is my story and how I feel. People have good outcomes and people have not good outcomes....

getprolo.com is a good nationwide info site

Take care and good luck. C

PS: I've had many complications from this hip job, and one was a horrible spinal stenosis in spine...there were times I could hardly sit for 5 min and not about cry. I went thru a lot of acupuncture with this issue and a specialty PT who works on this SS and even did some "internal" work. After all this work I found a few good exercises/stretches from spineuniverse.com and do my work daily to keep my spine so that I can sit for longer than 5 min. A big issue from the hip job is Cutaneous Femoral Nerve Damage I deal with going on 5 yrs...my whole thigh is numb, and I take some nerve pain supps and I'm feeling less tingling now, I think.