Most backs do not need an operation. They need the right six weeks.
Non-surgical treatment of back, neck and shoulder-girdle pain, including discogenic pain: assessment, image-guided injection where it is indicated, and a graded exercise programme. Surgery is the exception here, not the destination — and if a case does need a surgeon, Orthopedics is at the same board.
You don't need a diagnosis to start — the board reads your records and answers in writing. These are the situations that usually bring people to this page.
A physiatrist reads the scan and the patient together, and has the surgeon at the same board — so 'operate' and 'live with it' are not the only two answers on offer.
If your question isn't here, ask it directly — a human replies in minutes, in 8 languages.
Usually not. Most herniations settle without an operation, and a scan finding on its own is not an indication — what your leg, your walking and your night pain do matters more. If surgery is genuinely indicated, the orthopedic surgeon is at the same board and will say so in writing.
An injection lowers the pain enough to let you move and train. On its own it is temporary; paired with a graded programme it is what makes the programme possible.
You leave with a written home programme, and your therapist reviews you on protected video calls on a fixed rhythm. The numbers keep being collected.
Nothing. The board's first review is free, and your programme — sessions, reviews, home plan — is quoted fixed and in writing before it starts.
Most cases cross institutes. These often travel together — and the board reads them as one case.
Send what you have — scans, letters, or just the story so far. A senior consultant first-reads within 24 hours; the board answers in writing within 72 hours of your records being complete — free, before you commit to anything.