There are many effective ways to treat neck and back pain without surgery. You can be confident that your spine care team will always start with the most conservative care plan for you. Your team will discuss your treatment options, which may include any of the following.

• Physical therapy –A physical therapist will work with you to create an exercise plan that targets those muscles and helps you regain strength and range of motion.
• Physiatry – A physiatrist is a medical doctor with specialized training in physical medicine and rehabilitation. They focus on your whole body and recommend treatments that address your symptoms. 
• Medication management – Medications, like anti-inflammatories and non-narcotic pain relievers can help you take better control of your symptoms – and keep you moving.
• Injection therapies –Injections are a minimally invasive spine care approach that can provide long-lasting treatment.
• Diet changes – A healthy diet (and one that avoids trans fats, refined sugars and processed foods) can help reduce inflammation and maintain a healthy weight.
• Exercise – Low impact exercise, such as swimming, biking or yoga, can help you gain strength and improve flexibility – and reduce your back or neck pain. 
• Lifestyle modifications – Your doctor can also discuss lifestyle modifications that can help reduce your back or neck pain.
• Alternative therapies – Sometimes, alternative therapies like acupuncture, massage, biofeedback therapy or electric nerve stimulation can help reduce your back or neck pain. 

If non-surgical treatments aren’t relieving your pain, your team may recommend spine surgery. Fortunately, advances in neurosurgery mean there are more minimally invasive surgical approaches for neck and back pain than ever before. In many cases, these procedures use technology to precisely guide your surgeon’s movements, meaning smaller incisions and shorter recovery times.

Our spine surgeons are experienced in many procedures, including:

• Spinal decompression – Decompression surgery can help relieve back pain. There are many different types of decompression surgery:
  • Laminectomy – One or more lamina vertebra is removed
  • Laminotomy – A small portion of the lamina is removed
  • Foraminotomy – The area around the affected vertebra is enlarged
  • Microdiscectomy – A portion of a herniated disk is removed through a small incision during a minimally invasive procedure
• Disk replacement surgery – Your surgeon will replace a damaged disk with an artificial one. This helps reduce pain and improve range of motion.
• Kyphoplasty – A minimally invasive surgical procedure, kyphoplasty can help treat spinal compression fractures caused by osteoporosis.
• Minimally invasive procedures
• Spinal fusion – Spinal fusion permanently joins (fuses) two or more vertebrae together. This helps reduce instability, improve range of motion and ease pain. It’s used to treat many conditions, including spinal stenosis, degenerative disk disease, scoliosis and others.
• Spinal reconstruction surgery – This advanced procedure replaces deformed or misaligned portions of the spine with artificial disks and hardware. This helps align and stabilize the spine, which improves mobility and quality of life.
• Vertebroplasty (Kyphoplasty) – A surgeon will insert a special cement-type mixture into your fractured vertebra to help relieve pain and improve your mobility.