Apolpgies in advance for a long post....
I had a bad back injury decades ago and two orthopedic surgeons told me that I'd be in hospital, in traction, every sixth months until I finally had surgery and papaya [rather, papain therefrom] injections. A third, orthopedic guy showed me his and my X-rays and CT results and explained why he did not have surgery despite having essentially the same stack of herniated discs, explaining "We're not there yet for an assured good surgical result." He was the orthopedic surgeon and consultant for the U.S. Olympic ski team at the time. So I figured he knew something about spines.. and he knew all the best surgeons if he dud decide to have surgery someday. He sent me to his acupuncturist and physical therapy and I actually was disciplined enough, for once, to do the back exercises he recommended.

I was never hospitalized or in traction again. I have no pain but a back X-ray would show a slight offset in my spine. I saw another orthopedic years later for a knee injured while sailing and asked about the back. He asked if it hurts, I said no, and he said let sleeping dogs lie.

The then-trendy treatment of papain injections has since fallen out of favor from what I've read since due to negative outcomes.

A TENS unit did help at the time, maybe more to distract my attention from the worst pain. It became a kind of security blanket to help fall asleep at night. I later gave it to a friend and it knocked out migraine pain for him.

The best thing I did was buy an inexpensive kneeling chair. It automatically put my spine in the correct alignment. And helped my posture.

This is take it for what it's worth tale but I believe that consulting with a contrarian's argument about a proposed serious medical step spared me some unintended consequences. Since medical science is evolving at breakneck speed, a great solution might be just around the corner.

Can you take both paths? That is get pain management, which can provide relief that might allow a rethink of options and clearer head to maybe take the surgical path a bit later anyway? Pain surely affected my thinking and was also exhausting. It narrowed my world down a lot.

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