Back Surgery: Too Many, Too Costly, Too Ineffective

Americans spend more on health care than any other nation, but are not at the top of the list for delivering great results. This has been proven by statistical data found by the World Health Organization. Americans are not getting much bang for their buck when it comes to health care costs compared to most other industrialized countries.

Back pain alone stands at number 8 out of 10 top diseases in America. The costs for back pain treatment has been estimated at about $40 billion annually, according to Forbes.com. In 2008, over 3 million patients were admitted to Hospital Emergency Rooms due to back pain problems. This totaled a cost of $9.5 billion and was “the ninth most expensive condition treated in US hospitals.” Chiropractic has been proven most cost effective and clinically effective for the epidemic of Low Back Pain. Low Back Pain is the largest disability condition today.

According to an article in “Dynamic Chiropractic”, in 2006, 60 million surgeries were done. That is one surgery per every 5 Americans. No other country has near as many surgeries of its citizens. Over 100,000 people die each year from complications of surgery, which is far more than die in car crashes or with prescription drugs. Of these deaths, they count for 23% in deaths for men and 32% of deaths in women.

“Even having a lot of back pain does not by itself mean you need surgery. Surgery has been found to be helpful in only 1 in 100 cases of low back problems. In some people, surgery can even cause more problems. This is especially true if your only symptom is back pain.”  – Dynamic Chiropractic, March 26, 2011 issue.