When a problem happens in your body, you want it fixed fast right?  No one wants to be in pain or discomfort longer than they have to be. 

I hear people who come into my practice with physiological problems want a quick fix.  Well, there really is no quick fix.

Patients often opt to have what they call a "simple surgery" or "procedure".  

Surgery is is a quick and easy solution to a problem that will most likely present itself again, in some form.  If you have something taken out, the body has to compensate for that and perform differently.  This can put a strain on other areas of the body leading to chronic issues.  

So how can surgery be simple?  

Surgery at times is necessary, in an emergency or life threatening situation but t is not always the right answer in situations where there is an injury that can be rehabilitated.  Just because surgery is easier than rehabilitation or finding out the cause of the problem, it doesn't mean it will solve all of your problems.

Surgery involves "cutting of a patient's tissues or closure of a previously sustained wound. Other procedures that do not necessarily fall under this definition, such as angioplasty, endoscopy, may be considered surgery if they involve "common" surgical procedure or settings. These include use of a sterile environment, anesthesia, antiseptic conditions, typical surgical instruments, and surgical stapling. All forms of surgery are considered invasive procedures. 

"Noninvasive surgery" usually refers to an excision that does not penetrate the structure being excised (e.g. laser ablation of the cornea) or to a Radiosurgical Procedure (e.g. irradiation of a tumor)". There can be irreversible damage caused by opening someone up, exposing their body to the environment and moving tissues around.  

Surgery invades and changes the structure of the body.  Sometimes for the better but in a high percentage of the time it does more damage and leaves scar tissue which may actually make the situation worse.  

Doesn't it make sense to exhaust all other options before going under the knife or laser?  

Unless it is an emergency,  there are so many options out there.  Opting for the quick fix is not normally the best fix. If you fall into the high percentage of patients that have failed surgeries,  you not only still have the problem but have an additional problem to boot!  

In many cases, pharmaceuticals are added which then stresses your organs and have side effects.  Let's just say that one of the side effects is headaches.  Now you are taking one drug for the initial problem and another for the headaches.  The headache medication may have a different side effect which you may need another prescription for.   See where this is leading to? 

A great example of unnecessary surgeries is in the case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  Symptoms can occur because of muscles pressing on the nerve along the arm, neck problems or bones shifting along the arm and hand.  Surgeons normally cut the Transverse Carpal Ligament at the wrist to "free up" the median nerve.  A large percentage of patients have the nerve blocked in the forearm or under the bicep.  Now the surgery has been performed on the wrist but that is not where the problem is occurring.   The patient still has Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and has a wrist that doesn't work properly because the ligament is cut in half.  

Carpal Tunnel, Tennis Elbow, knee issues, foot issues, plantar fasciitis and other areas where there are surgical and pharmaceutical "easy fix" solutions can be helped and healed with chiropractic.  

I see a few patients with joint and muscular problems that were scheduled for surgery.  After treatment, patients have cancelled their appointments because they were healing naturally.  No cutting, no drugs, just allowing proper body function. Again, there are times when surgery is needed, but make sure that you have tried other forms of alternative medicine to see if the problem can be solved naturally.  

Dr. Amie Gregory, DC, CCEP, ANF has been helping patients in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Carlos, CA for over a decade.  Try her before invasive surgery, you may be surprised at the results!