Hi ~ Dr. Smith is right. You need to stay conservative as long as possible. Surgery should be your LAST option, after all other options have been tried.

Surgery ONLY repairs mechanical problems. It will NOT 'fix' pain. If a doctor says that he will relieve your pain, he's lying because usually you have the same pain or worse after surgery. Surgery does NOT relieve pain. If you have surgery and it DOES relieve your pain, that's just an usual bonus.

The latest research has shown that people who have undergone surgery get the SAME RESULTS as people who have gone thru physical therapy! That's quite a statement!!

So I'd get more opinions, perhaps try therapy again, go into pain management, do whatever you have to do to avoid surgery as long as you can! The only time I would agree to surgery is if my spinal cord was in danger of compression or if nerves were in danger of being permanently damaged. And by the way -- many years ago, I had 2 OPEN surgeries on my spine, and I'm now permanently disabled because of it.

Best of luck and God bless. Hugs, Lee