What do you expect?

   I often ask patients who are considering a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon in regards to their condition, what do you think he'll say? And they usually look at me with a look that says "I don't know, I'm not psychic.." but politely respond with a "Well I don't know". Well I do. He or she is most likely going to recommend surgery, that's what they do. They're surgeons. Never be surprised when you walk in to a surgeon's office and he recommends surgery...
   Sometimes I'll have a new patient who has had some steroid shots and came to me, because surprise surprise they wore off, stopped working, and didn't get to the root cause of the problem. SHOCKER. So the next option is surgery. Irreversible, life altering, no such thing as minimally invasive, non invasive doesn't even make sense, I hope they get it right the first time, pray I don't get an infection SURGERY. So let me ask you again, Why do you want a second opinion again? You are trying to avoid surgery right? I just told you I will keep you from surgery. Now you are going to go back to the guy who does surgery to see what he thinks about someone who is trying to prevent him from doing his job. What do you think he'll say? Hmmm. On the same note, don't be surprised when I recommend getting adjusted, but adjustments don't come with those somewhat possible, don't worry it wont happen to you complications that surgery does.

Side Note:
   If you fuse C5 and C6 together, which are the most commonly fused segments in the cervical spine,  you have just eliminated all motion in that segment. Almost your entire lateral flexion of the neck comes from those segments, that joint. That joint also happens to have more joint mechanoreceptors than any other joint in your entire body. Your brain requires information from that joint, specifically your frontal lobe of your brain, to operate and stay healthy. So if we fuse that joint, you may not have as much pain for a little bit, because you cant move it.... But did you know that you have just dramatically increased your chances of developing frontal lobe disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia? That's not something the surgeon goes over in the consultation is it?   

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