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Your New Jersey orthopedics specialist may recommend spinal fusion surgery to reduce pain, correct a deformity or improve mobility.
Conditions that often benefit from spinal surgery include:

• Spinal stenosis. This condition involves narrowing of your spinal canal, which may lead to compression of the spinal cord.
• Spinal tumors. Tumors or cysts in the spine may lead to spinal instability.
• Spinal fractures and compression fractures. Spinal fractures happen because of trauma or underlying conditions that weaken the bones.
• Spondylolisthesis. This is a condition in which a vertebra slips forward and presses on your spinal cord.
• Abnormal spinal curvatures. Conditions such as scoliosis and kyphosis cause abnormal curvatures in your spine.
• Degenerative disc disease. This condition is caused by wear and tear on your spinal discs.

Spinal fusion surgery isn’t the first treatment option your spine physician usually recommends. You may want to consider it, however, if more conservative options — such as physical therapy, medications or spinal injections — don’t relieve your pain.

You qualify for this surgery if your back pain stops you from enjoying normal activities and if other remedies haven’t worked. With a firm diagnosis, your NJ spinal doctor may first recommend conservative treatments, such as:

• Chiropractic care
• Physical therapy
• Traction or inversion
• Acupuncture
• Nerve stimulation
• Spinal injection therapy

If those treatments fail to relieve your back pain, you’re considered a good candidate for surgical intervention, as long as you’re healthy enough to withstand anesthesia and normal surgical trauma. Your doctor also may require you to stop smoking or take other health measures before recommending any surgery.