Dr. Stefano Sinicropi, M.D.

You may feel like you have no control over the success of your spinal operation, and while the surgery itself will be out of your hands, you have more say in the success of your operation that you probably realize. There are a number of different controllable factors that will affect your ability to have a successful operation and recovery. Below, we highlight five factors that play an important role in the final outcome of your spine surgery.

Controllable Factors That Influence Spine Surgery Success

Your decisions and actions before and after your procedure will heavily influence the success of your operation. Here’s a look at five of those factors:

1. If You Prehab – We’ve talked about the prehabilitation process a few times on this blog, but that’s because prehab can be so influential on your functional outcome. The more work you put in before your operation, the stronger you’ll be after your procedure. You don’t need to wait until surgery is complete to start strengthening your spine. Ask your doctor what exercises you can perform in the days and weeks leading up to your operation to help make the area strong and stable.
2. Who You Choose For Surgery – Don’t just pick a surgeon at random for your surgery or rely on whatever clinic is closest to your house. You only get one body, so you want to trust it to someone with an extensive track record of success. Dr. Sinicropi has performed thousands of successful spine surgeries, and he’s confident he can help you find relief from your issue. If you don’t feel like your current surgeon is a good fit, look elsewhere.
3. If You Follow Your Doctor’s Instructions – Post-op care guidelines are put in place for all patients, no matter how big or small their operation is. These restrictions are designed to help protect your spine from stress or injury when it is in a weakened state. We’re more than happy to tweak your restrictions or activity tolerance, but don’t step outside your recommendations without first consulting with your specialist. Taking on too much, too soon can jeopardize the success of your operation.
4. Complete Your PT Exercises – Surgery can only do so much in helping you return to a pre-injury level of fitness, and that’s where physical therapy comes in. Physical therapy helps to make your spine stronger, more stable and to increase range of motion in the area. If you want to get back to doing all of the things you were doing before you needed spine surgery, you need to commit to your PT routine. Attend all of your in-house sessions, and follow through with all of your home-based physical therapy exercises.
5. Goal Setting – Finally, you’re more likely to experience a successful surgery and recovery if you set some attainable goals at the outset. Research has found that patients who set goals are more likely to follow their post-op plan and push themselves to make a stronger recovery. If you don’t set any goals for yourself and assume that you’ll be able to recover just by staying in bed and letting time heal your wounds, you’re selling yourself short. You have a significant say in the outcome of your surgery, so set some goals and work with your provider in order to achieve your recovery goals.

If you keep these tips in mind and trust your surgeon to someone like Dr. Sinicropi, we’re confident that you’ll have a successful recovery following your spinal operation. For more information, or to talk to a specialist about your back pain, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi’s office today at (651) 430-3800.

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