Customer Reviews

Do You Really Need Back Surgery?: A Surgeon's Guide to Neck and Back Pain and How to Choose Your Treatment

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am facing major back surgery soon and this book was invaluable...it provided me with a thorough understanding of the anatomy of the spine and the details of the surgery which I will have. It is easy for a layman to understand and you can skip to the chapters that are appropriate for your particular ailment. I have already recommended it to two of my friends who also have severe back problems. It should be on the "MUST READ" list of anyone who has a back problem, no matter how large or small.

I am a physician who specializes in interventional spine procedures. I suggest this book to my more educated patients. Very good,well written overview of spine anatomy,physiology,and repair. Another reviewer suggested that there is not enough info in this book on disk replacement technology and kyphoplasty. My response is that understanding everything in this book will put you ahead of 99% of laypeople. This is not meant to be a textbook on cutting edge medical procedures.

I especially enjoyed the section on understanding health insurance. I have found the "Dummies" and "Idiots" books useless in helping patients understand back problems. Five stars.

This is an excellent book for those who want to be in control of their health. I run a specialist clinic, Core Concepts, for back pain in Singapore. For our patients that want to have a thorough understanding of their condition and treatment options, we strongly recommend this book.

In fact, our copies of the book are rarely in the clinics but are out in the hands of our patients to read at home. Improving patient knowledge is an integral part of our philosphy in active treatment. We want patients to understand how we are helping them instead of playing a passive role in their treatments. This book helps us to that.

Facing the prospect of a cervical spine fusion, I wanted all the information I could find. Dr Filler's book is a very easy and enjoyable read. The book has general chapters on spine health, conditions and diseases that may necessitate surgery, and diagnostic and surgical procedures. Dr Filler then dedicates chapters to specific conditions and specific areas of the spine. He concludes with postoperative considerations and the future. I'm no stranger to major surgery. This is the best book of its kind that I have read. I shared the book with family members. It helped me understand my condition and better communicate with my surgeon.

an excellent book that provides easy to understand information for people who want to know why they are having back or neck pains and what are available to them for treatment. The book explians in detail what the doctors should but would not have the time to tell their patients about the whys and hows. Reading this books helps the communications between the doctor and the patient.

After a few years of worsening spinal stenosis I recently had to have a multiple laminectomy. There have been some post-operational complications or further problems, and I am trying to sort things out. I may have to decide to have further surgery or not.

Dr. Filler's book has been very helpful to me in understanding my situation regarding my spinal problems and my possible options for addressing them. The book presents basic, practical information in a comprehensive, well organized, and detailed manner. The writing is clear and straight forward. Dr. Filler clearly has a lot of knowledge and experience, and he shares it in a way that is very useful for patients.

A very thorough and professional discussion of the problems of the back; how to diagnose the pain, numbness, weakness and other problems. The frank and straightforward description of surgical solutions is valuable to anyone looking at the prospect of having such treatment. Strongly recommend this book.

What I like best about the book is that it is not dumbed-down and very comprehensive. This is everything the doctors don't have time to tell you and you can absorb it at your own pace. If you could buy just two books for your problem, buy this one and another one with exercises.

This book provides excellent background information on the spine in general and on specific kinds of problems associated with its various parts. I found it to be entirely accurate compared with other sources ranging from www.spineuniverse.com articles to my own consultations with orthopedic and neurosurgeons, and my physiatrist. It can be difficult to decide who to listen to in a for profit medical environment. Given that fusions are irreversible, this book provides valuable guidance on alternatives that enabled me to "audit" the advice I was provided by them.

This is a pretty comprehensive guide for understanding the workings of the human back. The author takes you through an anatomy lesson where you learn about the different sections of the human spine: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacrum. The structure of the individual vertebrae and the differences among the vertebrae in the various sections are described. Then he goes into the actual spinal cord and nerves and how they are affected by problems in the vertebrae. Various back pains are discussed including 'referred pain' which is where you feel pain in one of the body's extremities that is actually caused by nerve trauma in the spinal cord or one of the nerves that branches out from the spinal cord to that extremity. All facets of spinal health are presented in easily understandable terms.

The second half of the book proceeds by discussing the various surgical methods that can be utilized to treat spine related problems. Historical procedures are included along with current medical trends for treating spinal problems so that you can see how back surgery has progressed over time. Even future directions and experimental techniques are discussed to give you a feel for what is up-and-coming in the field of spinal surgery. Risks are discussed as well so that you can make an informed choice to have a particular operation and understand the related consequences.

There are even chapters that discuss types of pain, pain medications and their associated complications, non-surgical methods for treating back pain and their effectiveness and potential consequences, genetic spinal disorders, recovery from spinal surgery, and even cost and health insurance matters. In fact, the health insurance chapter has valuable information describing the differences among the various type of insurance available such as HMO's, PPO's, and PSO's and explains the difference between 'contracted' and 'uncontracted' providers so that you'll know what to ask when seeking surgical help and how to control your costs.

All-in-all the book was worth the price for the information you will gain. However, I found that there was little discussion about 'degenerative' spinal problems in specific though I could imagine some of the techniques described might be useful for these situations such as transpedicular kyphoplasty. I would have liked to see the book spend some dedicated time discussing this particular type of spinal condition with, perhaps, some information about technologies that are on the horizon. Perhaps a few references to internet sites where one could find information on specific disorders would be nice as well.