For Dr. Stuart McGill, surgery should be the last resort.
In fact, for many patients who don’t properly address their pain, surgery is, at best, a temporary option. Consider this: following a disc hernia procedure, many patients, including those Dr. McGill sees, usually fall back into old habits and run the risk of re-injuring their damaged spine. “So you are going to have to change the way that you move [and] become more efficient in purposefully stimulating the adaption that you need in your body to become robust again,” he says.
The problem, Dr. McGill says, is that most orthopaedists don’t do a full exam of the whole patient to find the source of the pain. That can take two to three hours. 
“The assessment, if it's thorough enough, will always give you the answer,” says Dr. McGill. And that answer is rarely putting a patient under the knife. Other solutions, which can often include long-term therapies, will get to the source of the pain and lead to long-term healing “95% of the time,” he says.
Dr. McGill knows what he’s talking about: he has literally https://www.backfitpro.com/books/back-mechanic-the-mcgill-method-to-fix-back-pain/ (written the book on the mechanics of back pain), how to assess it, and published award-winning research on spine biomechanics. Also, as a distinguished Professor Emeritus at University of Waterloo, he is considered one of the world’s leading biomechanists.
On this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. McGill joined Dr. Lakhia with special guest https://www.cnsa.com/providers/john-m-lesher-md-mph (Dr. John Lesher), MD, MPH, of Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates to talk all about spine biomechanics: from the benefits of a technique experts refer to as “virtual surgery,” to the mechanics of strengthening exercises for back pain. 
Read the Full Show Notes on our website https://www.backtalkdoc.com/podcast.html (BackTalkDoc.com).

? Featured Expert ?Name: Dr. Stuart McGill, PhD
What he does: Dr. Stuart McGill is one of the world’s most renowned spine biomechanists. He is a distinguished Professor Emeritus of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, where he published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and award-winning research in the field of low back biomechanics. He is also the author of several books, the most recent being https://www.backfitpro.com/books/back-mechanic-the-mcgill-method-to-fix-back-pain/ (Back Mechanic) (2015).
Company: https://www.backfitpro.com/ (BackFitPro) 
Words of wisdom: “The way to stay pain-free is, one day a week, rest. Don't do anything. That's the day that your body adapts. So all the stimulation that you've done all week long, let it adapt.”
Connect: https://www.backfitpro.com/about-us/ (Website) | https://twitter.com/drstuartmcgill?lang=en (Twitter)
Subscribe & Contact? If you enjoyed this episode of Back Talk Doc, check out our recent episode https://www.backtalkdoc.com/back-pain-relief-through-posture-and-movement-with-esther-gokhale---back-talk-doc-podcast-episode-45.html (Back Pain Relief Through Posture and Movement, with Esther Gokhale).
? For more information on Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia and the podcast visithttps://www.backtalkdoc.com/ ( BackTalkDoc.com).
? https://pod.link/1486857278 (Subscribe) in your favorite podcast app. 
Back Talk Doc is brought to you by Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates, with offices in North and South Carolina. To learn more about Dr. Lakhia and treatment options for back and spine issues, go to backtalkdoc.com. To schedule an appointment with Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates, you can call us at 1-800-344-6716 or visit our website athttps://www.cnsa.com/ ( carolinaneurosurgery.com).