No Simple Fix

Unfortunately, there is no simple fix for back pain. While many cases of back pain will subside on their own, recurrence is common. Those who suffer from back pain are likely to visit a clinic many times. This leads to missed opportunities at work or home, feelings of frustration, anxiety, and high healthcare costs. Ultimately, it may seem like you’ve tried everything to manage your pain, but it keeps coming back. The experience of pain may set the tone for the rest of your life.

With the right indications, surgery is often viewed as a simple fix for back pain. However, the actual benefits of surgery are a subject of great controversy. One of the most popular spine surgeries, vertebral fusion, has relatively unclear benefits. Other types of surgery, like discectomy or laminectomy, demonstrate positive outcomes that fade away with time. This supports the importance of nonsurgical interventions like rehabilitation and cognitive behavioral therapy. For some patients, nonsurgical therapy can be leveraged before and after a procedure to optimize the outcome.

Seeking to understand your pain and navigate the complexities of treatment can seem daunting. Here at MobileMSK, we are designing a virtual-first solution to improve treatment outcomes and the experience of managing back pain. We believe that healthcare should meet you in your home, or wherever you are most comfortable seeking care. Stay tuned for a new model of optimized care coordination and delivery to free you from the burdens of living in pain.