Many patients arrive at a spine consultation carrying two truths at once: they are miserable from pain, and they are deeply afraid of what surgery might mean.
If that describes you, if you have said something like it to a partner, a friend, or quietly to yourself in the car after another appointment that did not go anywhere, that fear deserves respect. Spine surgery is not a small decision. Feeling hesitant does not mean you are overreacting. In many cases, it means you understand the weight of the choice but have not yet been given enough context to feel clear about it.
This blog is about what happens when the recovery picture in your head is outdated and the modern recovery plan in front of you looks very different. It is also about the people who love you, who may be scared too, and who are welcome to join the conversation.
Read the Full Video Transcript
DISCLAIMER:
Transcript lightly edited for clarity and readability. The views expressed are intended to explore the full range of clinical considerations in spine care and do not constitute medical advice. Outcomes vary by patient and pain pattern. For guidance specific to your situation, consult a spine specialist.
TRANSCRIPT TEXT:
Welcome to this Vertrae® 360 explainer. Today, we are talking about something many patients quietly fear: spine surgery recovery.
For many people, the fear is not only about the procedure itself. It is about what happens afterward. How long will I be in the hospital? How much pain will I have? When will I walk? When can I drive? When can I get back to work? And will life ever feel normal again? Those questions are real, and they deserve real answers.
Many patients come to this conversation after months or years of pain. Some have been told their imaging looks “normal” or “not that bad.” Some have back pain that stays mostly in the back, without dramatic shooting pain down the legs. Medically, that kind of localized pain is often called axial low back pain, and it is one of the most commonly misunderstood and dismissed types of pain.
If you have bounced from appointment to appointment, heard that “nothing is wrong,” but still know in your gut that something is not right, this may sound familiar. Let me say this clearly: you are not alone. And you are not wrong to feel frustrated or afraid.
The fear of spine surgery often lives in the gap between two difficult realities. On one side, pain has started to take over daily life. On the other side, surgery feels like a frightening leap into the unknown. Many patients delay getting evaluated until their pain has severely limited their walking, work, sleep, or family life. But fear is not weakness. Fear is a normal response to a major medical decision. It means you are taking the decision seriously.
So pause for a moment and ask yourself: what are you picturing when you think of spine surgery? Most of us walk into a consultation with a very specific image in our minds. And often, that image is terrifying.
Maybe you are picturing a relative who had surgery decades ago and never quite got back to normal. Maybe you imagine a long incision, days in the hospital, weeks stuck in bed, and heavy pain medication. For some patients and some complex conditions — especially multilevel fusions, severe deformities, or major medical risk factors — open procedures and hospital-based care may still be necessary. But for many common spine conditions, that older picture does not reflect what modern minimally invasive outpatient spine surgery can look like for carefully selected patients.
A generation ago, many spine procedures involved larger incisions, more muscle disruption, and longer hospital stays. Today, when the diagnosis, anatomy, and patient health make it appropriate, minimally invasive techniques can use smaller surgical corridors, reduce disruption to healthy tissue, and support a more efficient recovery. This is a major shift in how many spine procedures are performed — and how recovery is managed.
Let’s define what we mean by minimally invasive spine surgery. The crucial point is this: minimally invasive does not mean minor. It is still real surgery. It still requires anesthesia, careful planning, medical expertise, and recovery time.
The difference is the pathway. The goal of surgery is still to address the underlying spine problem, whether that means relieving nerve pressure, stabilizing a painful level, or correcting a structural issue. But minimally invasive techniques aim to reach that problem while reducing unnecessary disruption to the surrounding muscles and soft tissues. Surgeons may use smaller incisions and specialized muscle-sparing tools that gently move tissue aside rather than broadly cutting through it.
So how does this play out on the day of surgery? For many common minimally invasive outpatient procedures, the day follows a structured rhythm.
First is arrival and intake. This is where the surgical team confirms the plan, reviews safety details, and prepares you for the procedure. Second is the preoperative conversation. The team may ask again about your goals: what you want to be able to do again, what pain has taken away, and what outcome matters most to you. Maybe that is walking the dog, returning to the garden, playing with grandchildren, or simply sleeping through the night.
Third is the surgery itself. Depending on the procedure, this may take a few hours, but the exact time varies by case. Fourth is the recovery room, where the team begins careful monitoring and pain control. Fifth is one of the most important milestones: your first walk. For many minimally invasive cases, patients are encouraged to walk the same day, under the supervision of the care team, when it is safe to do so.
And finally, for carefully selected outpatient procedures, same-day discharge may be possible. That means going home the same day and beginning recovery in a familiar environment. This is one of the biggest shifts in modern spine surgery: recovery begins with movement, not prolonged bed rest.
One important concept is early ambulation, which simply means getting up and walking soon after surgery when medically appropriate. A large 2022 study published in Neurosurgery looked at more than 25,000 elective spine surgery patients and found that walking within eight hours after surgery was associated with better outcomes across several measures, including fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, lower readmission rates, and higher patient satisfaction.
That does not mean every patient must walk within exactly eight hours. It means that, when safe and appropriate, early movement is a powerful part of modern recovery. Walking soon after surgery is often one of the clearest signs that recovery has begun.
This approach is part of a broader concept called Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, or ERAS. The older model often emphasized staying in bed and relying heavily on opioids. The modern model emphasizes early movement, careful monitoring, and multimodal pain control. Multimodal pain control means using several different strategies together to manage pain, rather than relying only on strong opioids. The goal is to keep patients comfortable enough to move, eat, sleep, and participate in recovery. Because the patient who moves safely is often the patient who recovers more effectively.
Now, before we talk about timelines, there is an important medical caveat: recovery timelines are a compass, not a contract. Your recovery depends on many factors. Was the surgery open or minimally invasive? Was it a single-level procedure or a more complex multilevel surgery? Was it in the lumbar spine, meaning the lower back, or the cervical spine, meaning the neck? What was your health like before surgery? What kind of support do you have at home? Every patient heals on their own schedule.
That said, published research can give patients a general sense of what recovery may look like after certain minimally invasive procedures. For some lumbar, or lower back, procedures, patients may return to driving within a few weeks once they are off narcotic pain medication, can move safely, and have been cleared by their surgeon. Returning to desk work may take a few weeks, depending on the procedure, pain control, mobility, and job demands.
For some cervical, or neck, procedures such as cervical fusion or disc replacement, driving and returning to desk work may also happen within a few weeks, depending on the patient and the surgeon’s restrictions. Across many modern recovery pathways, opioid use may be shorter than patients expect, often measured in days to weeks rather than months. But again, this varies.
These timelines are not promises. They are general reference points. Some patients recover faster. Others take longer. Both can be normal. The most important point is this: your surgeon’s specific instructions always come first. Do not drive, return to work, lift, exercise, or resume activities based only on a general timeline. Your restrictions should come from your care team and your specific procedure.
Now let’s talk about the family. Spine pain does not affect only the patient. It affects the entire household. Patients often ask, “Can my family come to the consultation?” The answer is yes.
If you are the spouse, adult child, close friend, or caregiver of someone living with chronic pain, your perspective matters. You may be exhausted, too. You may have watched your loved one’s world shrink, and you may want to help but feel out of ideas. You are part of the care ecosystem.
Caregivers belong in the consultation because they often notice changes the patient has normalized. They may notice a change in posture at the kitchen table, the fact that the patient stopped using the stairs, skipped family events, gave up hobbies, slept poorly, or became less confident. Those observations can make the medical picture more accurate.
A strong consultation is often a three-person conversation: the patient, the surgeon, and the person who knows what life looks like at home. That home perspective matters because recovery is not just about an incision healing. It is about rebuilding the life that pain interrupted.
Many patients do not realize how much pain had narrowed their world until they finally experience relief. When someone lives with chronic pain for months or years, the pain can stop feeling like a specific event. It becomes the background weather of daily life. The brain adapts. The horizon shrinks. Activities quietly disappear. Then, when pain improves after a successful treatment, patients sometimes realize how much of their life had been organized around simply managing discomfort.
That is why the goal is not just “less pain.” The goal is getting back to movement, confidence, sleep, family life, and the activities that make life feel like yours again.
So here is the final thought: is fear the only thing keeping you from taking the next step?
Booking a consultation is not a commitment to surgery. It is a conversation. It is a way to get an honest, clear picture of your specific situation. Seeking a second opinion is not a criticism of your previous doctors. It is a reasonable and responsible step when your pain has lasted longer than expected, your imaging does not fully explain your symptoms, or you want to understand what modern treatment and recovery may actually look like.
Get the facts about your options. Get the facts about modern recovery. Then make your decision based on reality, not fear.
At Vertrae®, a comprehensive spine center specializing in minimally invasive and robotic spine surgery, Dr. Kamal Woods and the Vertrae® team help patients understand their diagnosis, their options, and what recovery may look like for their specific case.
Thank you for joining us for this Vertrae® 360 explainer. Stay curious, stay informed, and keep asking the right questions.
Quick Answer
Being afraid of spine surgery is normal. It is also often based on an outdated picture. Many patients imagine large incisions, long hospital stays, weeks in bed, and months before daily life feels possible again. Modern minimally invasive spine surgery can look very different: for many common procedures, patients walk the same day, go home the same day or next day, and begin returning to parts of normal life over days to weeks. Recovery still varies by procedure, complexity, health, job demands, and goals. The point is not that recovery is easy. It is that the recovery many patients fear is often not the recovery we plan for today.
Afraid of Spine Surgery? Here’s What Recovery Can Actually Look Like.
Fear of spine surgery is one of the most common things patients and families bring into a consultation. The recovery you are picturing may be outdated. Here is what modern minimally invasive recovery can look like, and why your fear deserves an honest answer, not a quick reassurance.
If you are afraid of spine surgery, you are in good company. Patients have walked into the consultation room at Vertrae® after spending months, and sometimes years, putting off the conversation because the picture in their heads felt unbearable. Long incisions. Weeks in bed. Heavy painkillers. A spouse who is also scared. A relative who had spine surgery 10 or 20 years ago and never quite got their life back.
This blog is for that patient. It is also for the spouse, the adult child, the friend, and anyone else who has been walking through this with someone they love. The fear is real. The reframe is also real. Modern minimally invasive spine surgery often looks different from the version most patients picture. Recovery still varies by procedure, anatomy, and starting point. But the picture you are afraid of may not be the picture you would actually live.
For patients in Miamisburg, Dayton, Cincinnati, and throughout Southwest Ohio, fear of spine surgery is often a primary reason they delay seeking an opinion. The waiting is understandable. It is also worth knowing what a current, careful conversation about surgery and recovery would actually involve before another year passes.
Miserable from pain, and at the same time deeply afraid of spine surgery. That combination is one of the most common things patients bring into a spine consultation. |
The fear is real, and it is normal
In patient feedback and in the consultation room, this combination of feelings shows up over and over:
- Miserable from pain, and at the same time afraid of spine surgery.
- Patients who have delayed or canceled surgery because they felt they should wait until they had no other choice.
- Patients who feel their quality of life has shrunk — unable to garden, unable to make it to a grandchild’s baseball game, unable to sleep through the night.
These are not unusual fears. They are some of the most common things patients and families bring into a spine consultation. The fear lives in the gap between two hard choices: pain that has become part of daily life, and surgery that feels like a leap into the unknown.
Fear does not mean you are weak. It means the decision matters. A patient who is not at all worried about spine surgery is unusual, not ideal. The right response to a major medical decision is to take it seriously, to ask hard questions, to bring people you trust into the conversation, and to want a clearer picture before you decide.
This blog is here to help you build a clearer picture. Not to talk you into surgery, and not to talk you out of it. The goal is to make sure that whatever you decide, you decide it based on what spine surgery and recovery actually look like today, not what they looked like 10 or 20 years ago, not what someone else lived through, and not what a single sentence from a well-meaning relative made you imagine.
Miserable from pain, and at the same time deeply afraid of spine surgery. That combination is one of the most common things patients bring into a spine consultation.
The fear is real, and it is normal
In patient feedback and in the consultation room, this combination of feelings shows up over and over:
- Miserable from pain, and at the same time afraid of spine surgery.
- Patients who have delayed or canceled surgery because they felt they should wait until they had no other choice.
- Patients who feel their quality of life has shrunk — unable to garden, unable to make it to a grandchild’s baseball game, unable to sleep through the night.
These are not unusual fears. They are some of the most common things patients and families bring into a spine consultation. The fear lives in the gap between two hard choices: pain that has become part of daily life, and surgery that feels like a leap into the unknown.
Fear does not mean you are weak. It means the decision matters. A patient who is not at all worried about spine surgery is unusual, not ideal. The right response to a major medical decision is to take it seriously, to ask hard questions, to bring people you trust into the conversation, and to want a clearer picture before you decide.
This blog is here to help you build a clearer picture. Not to talk you into surgery, and not to talk you out of it. The goal is to make sure that whatever you decide, you decide it based on what spine surgery and recovery actually look like today, not what they looked like 10 or 20 years ago, not what someone else lived through, and not what a single sentence from a well-meaning relative made you imagine.
One important note about urgent symptoms
If you have new or rapidly worsening weakness in a leg or arm, new bowel or bladder changes, numbness in the saddle area (between the legs), or other symptoms that feel like a sudden change rather than a gradual one, those symptoms deserve prompt medical evaluation. Do not wait for a routine consultation. For new bowel or bladder changes, saddle numbness, or rapidly worsening weakness, go to the emergency department or call 911. For other concerning symptoms that are not at that severity, call your doctor or seek prompt medical evaluation. The rest of this blog is for patients considering elective spine surgery, where there is time to think carefully and bring family into the conversation.
What you are probably picturing
Most patients walk into the consultation with a picture of spine surgery in their head. The picture usually includes some version of these elements:
- A long incision down the back.
- A hospital stay measured in days.
- Weeks in bed afterwards, unable to do much.
- Strong painkillers for an extended period.
- A slow return to anything resembling normal life.
- A relative or friend who had spine surgery years ago and never seemed quite the same.
That picture is not invented. It may be based on someone’s real experience. Some patients still need open procedures. Some need multi-level fusions. Some need hospital-based recoveries. Those operations exist, and they are sometimes the right answer.
But spine surgery has changed for many common cases. The techniques, tools, anesthesia, pain-control philosophy, discharge planning, and recovery expectations are all different from what they were for most patients 10 or 20 years ago. The recovery your relative had a decade or two back may not be the recovery you would have today. That is the work of the next sections, to fill in the more accurate picture, while staying honest about the parts that vary.
What modern minimally invasive spine surgery actually looks like
Minimally invasive does not mean minor. It means the surgeon is trying to accomplish the goal of surgery with less disruption to the muscles and tissues around the spine. Smaller cuts. Special tools that gently move muscle aside rather than cut through it. Targeted access to the part of the spine that needs work. The surgical goal is the same. The path is designed to disrupt less healthy tissue along the way.
For many common procedures, what modern minimally invasive recovery looks like is something close to this:
- Smaller cuts — often about one inch for many procedures.
- Muscle-sparing access through tools that move tissue aside rather than cutting through it.
- Same-day or next-day discharge home for many cases.
- Walking the same day as surgery, often within hours.
- Many early return-to-activity milestones measured in days to weeks, while deeper healing and full recovery may still take months depending on the procedure.
Many of the recovery benefits patients associate with “robotic” or “advanced” spine surgery actually come from the minimally invasive approach itself. (We covered this in detail in our blog on robotic spine surgery — the technology can support the approach, but the approach is what creates most of the recovery experience.)
Recovery does still vary by surgery type. Not every spine surgery has the same recovery, and the variation is not random — it follows the procedure.
- Open vs. minimally invasive: open procedures still exist for cases that need them, such as complex deformity, certain revisions, and some specific anatomies. Minimally invasive techniques cover the most common cases at Vertrae®.
- Single-level vs. multi-level: a single-level decompression and a four-level fusion are different operations with different recoveries. Generally, more levels mean a slower early recovery and a longer return to full activity.
- Lumbar vs. cervical: the recovery experience differs between low-back and neck procedures. Different muscle groups, different restrictions, different return-to-work timelines.
The recovery you are picturing may be from 10 or 20 years ago. Modern minimally invasive recovery often looks very different. |
Why walking on day one matters
One of the biggest shifts in spine surgery recovery over the past decade has been the move toward Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, or ERAS, a set of evidence-based principles designed to help patients recover more safely, move earlier, reduce opioid reliance when medically appropriate, and lower the risk of complications.
ERAS principles are neither proprietary nor unique to Vertrae®. They are widely supported across modern surgical care. At Vertrae®, we have built on those principles to create our own Vertrae® Rapid Recovery Protocol, a spine-specific, outpatient-focused approach designed for carefully selected patients undergoing minimally invasive and robotic-assisted spine surgery.
In other words, Vertrae® does not simply “use ERAS.” We apply ERAS-based principles through a recovery model tailored to our spine-only setting, surgical approach, patient education process, anesthesia and pain-control planning, and, when appropriate, same-day recovery pathway.
There are four pillars patients can recognize:
- Early ambulation. Patients are encouraged to walk the same day as surgery, ideally within hours. Even short, supervised walks make a measurable difference.
- Multimodal pain control. Managing pain through several layered methods rather than relying on opioids alone. The goal is to keep the patient comfortable enough to move, eat, and sleep, because patients who can move recover faster.
- Minimized opioid use. Modern recovery does not depend on weeks of strong painkillers. In published recovery studies of common minimally invasive procedures, median opioid discontinuation often occurred within one to two weeks. That does not mean every patient should expect the same timeline. It means modern recovery is often less opioid-dependent than many patients fear.
- Early movement and appropriately timed physical therapy. Movement is medicine. The recovery plan starts before the patient leaves the hospital and continues through structured physical therapy designed to rebuild strength and confidence.
The evidence on early ambulation is strong. A 2022 study from the Michigan Spine Surgery Improvement Collaborative, published in Neurosurgery (Lim et al., 2022), examined more than 25,000 elective spine surgeries. The total included 7,647 cervical cases and 17,616 lumbar cases. The researchers compared patients who walked within 8 hours of surgery with those who walked later. Walking within eight hours was associated with better outcomes across nearly every measure. The early-walking group was associated with fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, lower 30-day and 90-day readmission rates, more discharges home rather than to a rehabilitation facility, and higher reported satisfaction.
Walking early is not magic by itself. It is part of a broader recovery approach, a marker that the body is ready to begin moving again, and a sign that the surgery and the recovery plan are working together. But it is one of the clearest signs that recovery has begun.
Walking soon after surgery is one of the clearest signs that recovery has begun. |
What the day of surgery actually looks like
If you are imagining the day of surgery as a long, frightening blur, here is a more accurate picture for many common minimally invasive cases at Vertrae® Surgery Center, our spine-only outpatient surgery center. The exact details depend on your procedure, but the rhythm of the day usually looks something like this:
- You check in at Vertrae® Surgery Center, often with a family member or friend. The intake is faster than you might expect because the team has already reviewed your chart, imaging, and surgical plan.
- Pre-op. A conversation with the surgical team. A final review of the plan. Many patients are asked some version of this question: ” What do you want to be able to do again?” Not just ‘get out of pain.’ Garden. Drive to a grandchild’s game. Sleep through the night. Walk the dog without thinking about it. Those goals shape how the team measures your recovery.
- Many common minimally invasive procedures are completed in hours rather than a full day, but the exact duration depends on the procedure, anatomy, and surgical plan. Your family member or friend gets updates from the team during the surgery.
- Recovery room. Many patients begin recovery shortly after surgery, though the exact timing varies. Pain is managed through the multimodal plan. The team checks: can you move your feet? Can you follow simple commands? How are you feeling?
- First walk. Often, the same afternoon, sometimes within hours of surgery. Short and supervised. Some patients are surprised by how possible it feels.
- Every patient at Vertrae® Surgery Center goes home the same day. There are no overnight stays at the surgery center. A family member or friend drives you home. For more complex cases, including multi-level fusions, where the pathology requires more extensive work, surgery happens at a hospital rather than at Vertrae® Surgery Center, with an overnight stay or longer, depending on the case. The decision about which setting fits a particular case is part of the surgical plan.
Throughout the day, the people who love you are part of the picture. They are not waiting outside in a separate world. They are in the conversation: in the pre-op, in the recovery room when you wake, in the discharge instructions, and in the drive home. That is how the day is designed.
For many appropriately selected patients, recovery from outpatient spine surgery begins with early walking and going home with clear instructions. Recovery continues in a familiar environment. The shift back to home is part of the plan, not an early exit from it.
For the people who love someone with spine pain:
Caregiver feedback often has a different kind of detail. Some people describe seeing the change in their loved one’s eyes: the look of someone who feels worn down by pain. Others describe watching a once-full life become smaller: fewer walks, fewer plans, fewer yeses, more cancellations, more silence. Many describe feeling committed and exhausted at the same time. They want to help, but they have run out of ideas for how.
That kind of worry has weight. Living alongside chronic spine pain can be exhausting, and fear for someone you love can become its own form of fatigue.
Two things are worth knowing.
First, you are part of the care ecosystem. The people closest to a patient often notice what the patient has learned to minimize: the shift in posture at the kitchen table, the stairs they stopped using, the night they stopped sleeping well, the moment they stopped joining activities they used to enjoy. Those observations matter to a good spine surgeon.
Second, you are welcome at the consultation. You do not need the perfect medical question. You do not need to speak for the patient. With the patient’s permission, you can help by asking questions, remembering details, and describing what daily life has looked like outside the exam room, such as the routines that changed, the activities that disappeared, and how pain has affected mood, sleep, confidence, and independence.
Bring the questions you have been carrying. Bring the details you have noticed. A good spine consultation keeps the patient at the center while making room for the people who understand what life has looked like at home. It should not feel like a lecture. It should feel like a real conversation.
Recovery timelines, by what kind of surgery
Patients ask a version of this question at almost every consultation: “How long until I can drive? How long until I can go back to work? How long until I can sleep through the night?” The honest answer is that recovery timelines depend on the procedure. The literature on minimally invasive spine surgery includes specific median timelines for common procedures, numbers that help orient the conversation, even though every patient’s actual recovery varies.
Recovery timelines are a compass, not a contract. They help orient the conversation, but your actual recovery depends on your procedure, anatomy, health, job demands, and starting point.
What recovery depends on
Recovery from spine surgery depends on:
- The type of procedure
- Open vs. minimally invasive approach
- Single-level vs. multi-level surgery
- Lumbar vs. cervical location
- Your overall health before surgery
- Your job demands and physical activity level
- Your home support system
• Your willingness and ability to walk, move, and follow restrictions
Lumbar minimally invasive surgery
A 2022 study published in the journal Spine (Shinn et al., 2022) looked at the two most common minimally invasive lumbar procedures. The first group: 123 patients who had a minimally invasive lumbar laminectomy. That is a decompression procedure. The surgeon removes bone and tissue that is pressing on the nerves. The second group: 107 patients who had a minimally invasive lumbar fusion, often called MI-TLIF. Here is what the researchers found:
- MIS lumbar laminectomy (decompression): median return to driving was around 11 days, return to work around 14 days, and opioid discontinuation around 7 days.
- MIS lumbar fusion (single-level MI-TLIF): median return to driving was around 18.5 days, return to work around 25 days, and opioid discontinuation around 11 days.
- Multi-level fusion: the literature on multi-level recoveries is more variable, but generally, more levels means a slower early recovery and a longer return to full activity. Recovery measured in weeks rather than days for early activities, with full healing measured in months.
Cervical surgery
A 2023 study, also published in the journal Spine (Subramanian et al., 2023), looked at the two most common cervical (neck) procedures. The study included 70 patients who underwent ACDF (anterior cervical discectomy and fusion). It also included 70 patients who had cervical disc replacement. The numbers were similar between the two procedures:
- ACDF (anterior cervical discectomy and fusion): median return to driving was around 16 days, return to work around 16 days, and opioid discontinuation around 7 days.
- Cervical disc replacement: median return to driving was around 12 days, return to work around 14 days, and opioid discontinuation around 6 days.
Here is the same information as a side-by-side reference. These are study medians, not promises. Your surgeon’s restrictions always come first.
| Procedure type | Driving (median) | Desk-based work (median) | Off opioids (median) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIS lumbar laminectomy | ~11 days | ~14 days | ~7 days |
| MIS lumbar fusion (single-level) | ~18.5 days | ~25 days | ~11 days |
| ACDF (cervical fusion) | ~16 days | ~16 days | ~7 days |
| Cervical disc replacement | ~12 days | ~14 days | ~6 days |
These are study medians, not promises. Your surgeon’s restrictions always come first. These numbers are meant to help you ask better questions, not to clear you to drive, work, or engage in activities on your own. If your recovery is slower than one of these numbers, that does not automatically mean something is wrong. It means your surgeon needs to interpret your progress in the context of your procedure, your body, and your starting point.
Two things matter about these numbers. First, they are population averages from research studies, so they are useful as orientation, not as guarantees. Some patients recover faster. Some recover more slowly. Both can be normal.
Second, these numbers specifically describe minimally invasive procedures. Open procedures, multi-level fusions, complex revisions, and other situations have different timelines. Recovery from a four-level open fusion is a different conversation than recovery from a single-level minimally invasive decompression. Your surgeon should be able to give you a more specific picture based on your procedure, your anatomy, and your starting point.
“You don’t realize how much pain you were in until it goes away”
After surgery, many patients describe something surprising. They describe not realizing how much pain they had been in until the pain went away.
That sentiment captures something honest about chronic spine pain that is hard to describe until you have lived it. Pain that has been part of life for months or years stops feeling like an event and starts feeling like the weather. The brain adapts. The body compensates. The horizon shrinks. Plans get smaller. Conversations get quieter. The list of things you used to enjoy gets shorter, almost without you noticing.
And then, sometimes immediately, sometimes over weeks, the pain lifts. And patients are briefly disoriented, discovering how much of their lives had narrowed around it.
This is not a promise that surgery fixes everything. Some patients have ongoing symptoms after surgery. Some need continued care. Some have a slower recovery than they hoped. The honest version of the post-surgical experience includes all of that. Surgery is not magic, and not every patient has the same experience.
But with the right diagnosis, the right procedure, and a recovery built on early movement and good support, many patients describe something close to relief. A return to motion. A return to sleep. A return to the things they had quietly stopped doing because pain had made them too hard. The question many patients ask themselves before surgery, “Is this fear worth pushing through?”, is often answered weeks or months later by something simpler. Life has started expanding again, and the old pain is no longer the center of every decision.
The fear before the decision is real. The recovery after is also real. Both deserve an honest picture.
Key Takeaway
Being afraid of spine surgery is normal. Many patients picture a recovery that feels outdated. They picture long hospital stays, weeks in bed, heavy painkillers, and months before life feels normal again. Modern minimally invasive spine surgery can look very different for appropriately selected patients. Smaller incisions. Same-day discharge from Vertrae® Surgery Center. Walking the same day for many appropriately selected patients. Return to some daily activities in days to weeks. Recovery still depends on the procedure, complexity, health, job demands, and goals. The timelines in the research are a compass, not a contract. At Vertrae® in Miamisburg, Ohio, Dr. Kamal Woods and the team welcome patients and the people who love them into the conversation.
Listen to This Topic: Afraid of Spine Surgery? You Are Not Alone
Prefer to listen? This episode is for the people who are afraid of spine surgery — and for the people who love them. In a clear, conversational format, we discuss why the fear is real and normal, what most patients are actually picturing (often an outdated version of surgery), what modern minimally invasive spine surgery looks like today, why walking on day one matters, and how recovery actually unfolds. The fear is real. So is what recovery can look like now.
Read the Full Podcast Transcript
DISCLAIMER:
Transcript lightly edited for clarity and readability. The conversational format is designed to explore concepts and tradeoffs, not to provide medical advice or apply to any individual patient. Outcomes vary by patient, pain pattern, technology used, and study population, and findings from one clinical trial may not generalize to every situation. For guidance specific to your situation, consult a spine specialist.
TRANSCRIPT TEXT:
Speaker 1:
If you had spine surgery back in the 1990s, you may have spent days in the hospital and weeks recovering in a hospital bed. You may have been relying heavily on narcotic pain medication, staring at the ceiling, and waiting for a large incision down your back to heal.
Speaker 2:
For many patients, that was the reality back then.
Speaker 1:
But if you have minimally invasive spine surgery today, the recovery picture can look very different. For many carefully selected patients, the goal is to get up and walk within hours, not days. That is a massive paradigm shift.
Speaker 2:
It really is.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to this Vertrae® 360 deep dive. Our mission today is to look at the gap between the outdated version of spine surgery that terrifies many patients and the reality of what modern medicine can offer now.
Speaker 2:
That gap keeps many people in pain longer than they need to be.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. So if you or someone you love is sitting in a car after yet another doctor’s appointment, miserable from grinding back or neck pain but terrified of the supposed cure, this deep dive is for you.
We are pulling insights from Vertrae®, a comprehensive spine center specializing in minimally invasive and robotic spine surgery, to talk about one of the most emotional parts of spine care: the fear of spine surgery recovery.
Speaker 2:
Let’s unpack that, because for patients living with chronic, lingering, life-shrinking pain, being afraid of someone operating on the spine does not mean they are weak.
Speaker 1:
Not at all. Hesitation is an appropriate, rational response to a major medical decision. I would be more concerned if someone were not at least a little nervous.
Speaker 2:
Exactly. But before we get into elective surgery and recovery, we need to draw a clear line around red-flag symptoms.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Everything we are discussing today applies to elective situations where there is time to plan, ask questions, and seek opinions. But certain symptoms change the rules.
Speaker 2:
So when is it an emergency?
Speaker 1:
If someone is experiencing new bowel or bladder changes, numbness in the saddle area — meaning the area between the legs that would touch a saddle — or rapidly worsening weakness in the arms or legs, that needs urgent medical evaluation.
Speaker 2:
So that is not a routine consultation for next Tuesday.
Speaker 1:
Correct. Those symptoms should not be waited out. Depending on severity, that may mean going to the emergency department or calling emergency services.
Speaker 2:
That is important to clarify up front.
Speaker 1:
For everyone else dealing with chronic daily pain, the issue is not really the fear itself. The issue is that, for many patients, the fear is anchored to an outdated picture of spine surgery.
Speaker 2:
An older version of surgery.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. The fear is real, but the mental picture driving it may be based on medicine from 20 or 30 years ago.
Speaker 2:
Let’s talk about that outdated picture, because many people carry it into the consultation room.
Speaker 1:
They picture a giant incision straight down the middle of the back, being bedbound for weeks, relying on heavy pain medication, and facing a long, painful crawl back to anything resembling a normal life.
Speaker 2:
And patients are not inventing that fear out of nowhere.
Speaker 1:
No, they are not. It is often based on a very real experience of an aunt, neighbor, parent, or friend who had an open spine surgery decades ago and struggled afterward.
Speaker 2:
The classic spine surgery horror story.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. And to be fair, complex open surgeries still have an important role for certain severe spinal deformities, multilevel problems, revision cases, or medically complex situations. But for many common degenerative spine conditions today, that older mental movie does not represent what modern minimally invasive spine surgery may look like for the right patient.
Speaker 2:
But when people hear a phrase like “minimally invasive,” some assume it is just marketing.
Speaker 1:
That is fair. Some people hear it and think it only means a slightly smaller scar on the surface, while the trauma underneath is the same.
Speaker 2:
So is the mechanical reality of surgery actually different?
Speaker 1:
Yes. The mechanical reality can be fundamentally different. But let’s be clear: minimally invasive surgery, or MIS, does not mean minor surgery.
Speaker 2:
It is still real surgery.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. The surgical goal may be the same as an open procedure. The surgeon may still be removing a herniated disc that is compressing a nerve or stabilizing a painful segment. What changes is the pathway the surgeon uses to reach the spine.
In a traditional open surgery, the surgeon may make a larger incision and move or detach muscle to access the spine. That can create significant soft tissue disruption.
Speaker 2:
And that muscle disruption can be a major part of recovery.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. When healthy muscle fibers and their blood supply are disrupted, recovery can become more painful and prolonged. In some cases, muscle injury can contribute to postoperative weakness, stiffness, or chronic discomfort.
Speaker 2:
So how does minimally invasive surgery reduce that?
Speaker 1:
Instead of widely exposing the spine, surgeons may use specialized tools called tubular retractors. These create a narrow working corridor through the muscle.
Speaker 2:
So the surgeon inserts a small tube, then gradually uses slightly larger tubes to separate the muscle fibers?
Speaker 1:
Exactly. The tissue is gently dilated instead of broadly cut or stripped away. The goal is to create a protected pathway to the spine while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.
Speaker 2:
So it is like pushing your arm through a heavy velvet curtain.
Speaker 1:
That is a good analogy. You separate the fabric to get to the other side, but when you pull your arm out, the curtain falls back into place. You did not cut a hole through the fabric.
Speaker 2:
That makes the concept easy to visualize.
Speaker 1:
And because the healthy tissue is better preserved, the recovery experience can shift. For carefully selected patients, that is one reason outpatient surgery may be possible.
Speaker 2:
Which brings us to same-day discharge.
Speaker 1:
Yes. At modern outpatient facilities like Vertrae Surgery Center, our spine-only outpatient surgery center, many common minimally invasive procedures can be performed with same-day discharge when the patient, procedure, and safety profile are appropriate.
Speaker 2:
Having spine surgery in the morning and sleeping in your own bed that night can sound almost impossible to patients who only know the old model.
Speaker 1:
It does. And it requires a highly coordinated system: careful patient selection, detailed preoperative planning, minimally invasive techniques, modern anesthesia, multimodal pain control, and a team that knows how to safely support early mobility.
Speaker 2:
But it is not for every single surgery.
Speaker 1:
Correct. Complex multilevel fusions, severe deformities, revision surgeries, or patients with certain medical risks may still be better served in a hospital setting with overnight monitoring or a longer stay. The safest setting is always the right setting.
Speaker 2:
But for many common minimally invasive cases, going home the same day can be part of the recovery plan.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. And same-day discharge immediately raises a practical question: how does someone safely go home after spine surgery?
Speaker 2:
They have to be able to move.
Speaker 1:
Right. They have to get into the car, get into the house, and safely move around at home. That leads directly to one of the most important and counterintuitive parts of modern recovery: early movement.
Speaker 2:
This completely flips the old script.
Speaker 1:
It does. The older idea was that a healing body should stay still. But modern recovery recognizes that safe, early movement can be essential.
The source material references a large 2022 study from the Michigan Spine Surgery Improvement Collaborative, published in Neurosurgery by Lim and colleagues. It looked at more than 25,000 elective spine surgery patients.
Speaker 2:
That is a very large dataset.
Speaker 1:
It is. The study found that walking within eight hours after surgery was associated with fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, lower readmission rates, and higher patient satisfaction.
Speaker 2:
That is a major finding.
Speaker 1:
It is, but we should frame it carefully. It does not mean every patient must walk at exactly eight hours. It means that, when safe and appropriate, early ambulation is associated with better recovery markers.
Speaker 2:
Let me push back on this. If someone just had spine surgery, getting them up to walk a few hours later sounds almost cruel. Does the body not need deep rest after structural work?
Speaker 1:
It is a natural reaction, but human biology needs movement. Prolonged bed rest can be harmful. When someone lies flat for long periods, muscles decondition quickly. Blood can pool in the legs, increasing the risk of blood clots. Lungs do not expand as fully, which can increase the risk of pneumonia.
Speaker 2:
So walking early helps reduce those systemic risks.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. And early walking also helps patients regain confidence in their body. It reminds the nervous system that safe movement is possible.
Speaker 2:
But there is still the reality of surgical pain. Getting out of bed can hurt.
Speaker 1:
That is where Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, or ERAS, comes in. ERAS protocols help make early mobility possible by using structured recovery pathways and multimodal pain control.
Speaker 2:
Multimodal pain control means using more than one strategy for pain.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. Historically, major surgery was often managed with a heavy reliance on opioids. Opioids can reduce pain, but they can also cause sedation, shallow breathing, constipation, nausea, and delayed mobility.
Speaker 2:
And if the goal is to get up and walk, heavy sedation works against that.
Speaker 1:
Correct. Multimodal pain control uses several approaches together to manage pain from different angles, often with the goal of reducing reliance on opioids when possible. Depending on the patient and procedure, this may include non-opioid pain relievers, anti-inflammatory strategies when appropriate, nerve-calming medications, local anesthetic techniques, ice, positioning, and carefully timed movement.
Speaker 2:
So the goal is not necessarily zero pain.
Speaker 1:
Right. The goal of modern surgical pain control is not to erase every sensation. The goal is to keep the patient comfortable enough and alert enough to move, eat, sleep, and participate in recovery.
Speaker 2:
Because movement is medicine.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. When a patient takes that short, supervised walk on the same day as surgery, they are doing more than stretching their legs. They are increasing circulation, supporting lung function, reducing stiffness, lowering certain complication risks, and signaling that recovery has begun.
Speaker 2:
And this changes the relationship with opioids too.
Speaker 1:
It can. Because minimally invasive approaches aim to reduce tissue disruption, and multimodal pain control uses several pain-management strategies, many patients use opioids for a shorter period than they may expect. In some modern minimally invasive recovery pathways, opioid use may be measured in days to a couple of weeks, though this varies by patient and procedure.
Speaker 2:
So opioids may be used as a short bridge during the most acute phase of healing, not necessarily as a months-long recovery plan.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. But every patient is different, and pain medication decisions should always come from the care team.
Speaker 2:
Now let’s talk about the question every patient asks: when do I get my life back?
Speaker 1:
Yes. When can I drive? When can I sit at my desk? When can I work? When can I do normal things again?
The source material references research from Spine, including studies by Shin and colleagues in 2022 and Subramanian and colleagues in 2023, looking at return-to-activity patterns after certain spine procedures.
Speaker 2:
But before we talk about specific timelines, we need the golden rule.
Speaker 1:
Yes. These timelines are a compass, not a contract.
They are population medians. They help patients understand a realistic center of gravity and ask better questions, but they are not personal guarantees or medical clearance.
Speaker 2:
A median means half of patients took less time and half took more.
Speaker 1:
Exactly.
For minimally invasive lumbar decompression, such as a laminectomy, some studies show many patients returning to driving and desk work within a few weeks, with median timelines around the two-week range.
Speaker 2:
That is because a decompression often involves removing the pressure from a nerve without changing the entire structural mechanics of the spine.
Speaker 1:
Right. The surgeon may remove a small amount of bone, ligament, or disc material that is compressing a nerve. Because the procedure does not always require the body to fuse bone across a level, early milestones can happen sooner for many patients.
Speaker 2:
What about minimally invasive lumbar fusion?
Speaker 1:
The timelines are often longer. For some minimally invasive lumbar fusion patients, return to driving and desk work may still happen within weeks, but the exact timeline depends on pain control, mobility, whether the patient is off narcotic medication, job demands, surgeon restrictions, and the biology of bone healing.
Speaker 2:
A fusion is a different biological challenge.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. A fusion is not just removing pressure. It involves stabilizing a spinal segment and asking the body to grow bone across that level over time. That deeper bone healing takes months, even if the patient reaches certain daily-life milestones earlier.
Speaker 2:
And what about the neck?
Speaker 1:
For cervical procedures, such as ACDF — anterior cervical discectomy and fusion — or cervical disc replacement, some patients may return to driving and desk work within a few weeks, depending on the procedure, symptoms, restrictions, and individual recovery.
Speaker 2:
ACDF means the surgeon approaches through the front of the neck to remove a damaged disc and fuse the level.
Speaker 1:
Correct. That anterior approach allows the surgeon to reach the disc without going through the muscles in the back of the neck. Cervical disc replacement also uses an anterior approach but places an artificial disc to preserve motion rather than fusing the level.
Speaker 2:
So the mechanics of the procedure shape the recovery timeline.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. A single-level surgery is usually different from a multilevel surgery. A decompression is different from a fusion. A cervical procedure is different from a lumbar procedure. Baseline health matters. Smoking status matters. Cardiovascular health matters. Home support matters. And the patient’s ability to safely walk and participate in recovery matters.
Speaker 2:
Which brings us to the home support system.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Physical healing does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in the context of a person’s life.
Chronic pain does not happen to an isolated spinal column. It happens to a human being. And that human being lives inside a family, a routine, a home, and a set of responsibilities.
Speaker 2:
At centers like Vertrae®, the family is not viewed as a bystander.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. The family or caregiver can be an important part of the care ecosystem. Often, the caregiver is one of the most valuable sources of information in the room because they see the adaptations the patient has stopped noticing.
Speaker 2:
When someone lives with chronic pain every day, the brain normalizes it just to survive.
Speaker 1:
Right. The patient may stop noticing the gradual changes. But a spouse, adult child, or close friend may notice the modified posture at the kitchen table, the fact that the patient stopped going upstairs, the missed grandchildren’s baseball games, or the garden that has not been touched in a year.
Speaker 2:
That gives a voice to the collateral damage of pain.
Speaker 1:
It does. That is why a thoughtful spine consultation is often a three-person conversation: the patient, the surgeon, and the person who knows what life looks like at home.
The surgeon relies on the patient’s internal experience of pain, but the caregiver’s observations of function, sleep, mood, confidence, and activity can make the medical picture more accurate.
Speaker 2:
There is also a psychological reality that patients often experience after successful treatment.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Many patients do not realize how much pain they were in until the pain finally improves.
Speaker 2:
That can be jarring.
Speaker 1:
It can. The nervous system is adaptable, and that resilience can help people survive. But it can also trick them into accepting a smaller life.
A helpful way to think about chronic pain is that, over time, it stops feeling like a single event and becomes the weather.
Speaker 2:
I love that analogy.
Speaker 1:
You do not wake up thinking, “I am having a pain event today.” You wake up inside a harsh climate that you have learned to tolerate.
And because you cannot change the weather, your horizon quietly shrinks. Plans get smaller. Activities disappear. Life becomes organized around avoiding a flare-up.
Speaker 2:
And recovery is not always perfectly smooth.
Speaker 1:
Correct. Surgery is a biological process. There can be ups and downs. Some patients experience muscle spasms as the body adjusts. Fusion healing takes many months to fully mature. Nerves can take time to calm down. The body may need time to rebuild strength and confidence.
But the ultimate goal of modern minimally invasive spine care is not simply a lower number on a pain scale.
Speaker 2:
The goal is changing the weather.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. The goal is helping the patient’s life expand again: better sleep, more confident movement, less fear, and a return to the simple daily activities they had quietly surrendered to pain.
Speaker 2:
So what does this all mean for the person listening who is miserable but has been putting off a spine consultation because they are afraid?
Speaker 1:
It means your fear is valid. It is normal to be afraid of spine surgery.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely normal.
Speaker 1:
But you owe it to yourself to make sure the fear you are carrying is based on today’s medical reality, not an outdated picture from decades ago.
Modern minimally invasive techniques, tubular retractors, early walking, ERAS protocols, and multimodal pain control have changed what recovery may look like for many carefully selected patients.
Speaker 2:
The old story is not the only story.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. You do not have to let a spine surgery horror story from 20 years ago dictate the future of your health.
You deserve the facts of today so you can make an informed choice about tomorrow.
Speaker 2:
That is a powerful message.
Speaker 1:
We will leave you with this final thought.
We have spent this entire deep dive discussing the danger of letting an outdated mental image control a major health decision.
So ask yourself: what other important choices are being shaped by a worst-case scenario that may no longer be true?
Maybe it is a medical decision. Maybe it is a difficult conversation. Maybe it is a change you have been avoiding.
Speaker 2:
Fear deserves respect.
Speaker 1:
It does. But fear should be updated when the facts change.
Direct CTA — Request a consultation
If fear has been the thing keeping you from asking the next question, you do not have to come alone. Bring your imaging. Bring your questions. Bring the person who has been walking through this with you, the one who is also scared.
At Vertrae®, Dr. Kamal Woods and the team will help you understand what surgery would actually involve in your case, what recovery may look like for your specific procedure, and whether surgery is truly the right next step for you. The goal is not to talk you into anything. The goal is to make sure that whatever you decide, surgery, watchful waiting, another opinion, or something else entirely, you decide it with a clearer picture than the one fear has been holding for you.
Dr. Kamal Woods is a dual fellowship–trained neurosurgeon and spine surgeon specializing exclusively in minimally invasive spine surgery, with advanced training that includes Cedars-Sinai. Vertrae®, a comprehensive, spine-only center led by Dr. Woods, serves patients in Miamisburg, Dayton, Cincinnati, and across Southwest Ohio.
Request a consultation at vertrae.com. Bring the people who love you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it normal to be afraid of spine surgery?
Yes. Fear of spine surgery is one of the most common things patients and families bring into a spine consultation. The decision is significant, and taking it seriously is the right response, not an overreaction. Many patients say they were miserable but afraid — a normal feeling for anyone facing a major medical decision.
How long is the recovery from minimally invasive spine surgery?
Recovery depends on the specific procedure. In published research on common minimally invasive lumbar surgeries, median return to driving was around 11–18 days and return to work around 14–25 days, depending on whether the procedure was a decompression or a fusion. Cervical procedures are similar. These are study medians, not promises — your timeline depends on your case.
Will I be able to walk after spine surgery?
For many common minimally invasive spine surgeries, patients walk the same day as surgery, often within hours. Research shows that early ambulation is associated with fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, lower readmission rates, and higher patient satisfaction. The first walk is usually short and supervised, but most patients are surprised by how possible it feels.
How much pain will I be in after surgery?
Pain after spine surgery is real, but modern recovery is built around managing it through several layered methods rather than relying on opioids alone. The goal is to keep you comfortable enough to move, eat, and sleep. Pain is often most noticeable in the first few days and generally improves over the following weeks, though some ups and downs are normal. Individual experience varies.
Will I need to take opioids after spine surgery?
Most patients use some opioid pain medication early in recovery, but for shorter durations than many patients fear. In published recovery studies of common minimally invasive procedures, median opioid discontinuation often occurred within one to two weeks. That does not mean every patient should expect the same timeline. Medication decisions are individualized and should follow the surgical team’s instructions.
How soon can I drive after spine surgery?
Median return to driving in research on common minimally invasive procedures ranges from about 11 days (lumbar decompression) to 18.5 days (lumbar fusion), and around 12–16 days for cervical procedures. Your surgeon’s specific restrictions and your own readiness determine when you should drive again. Several things matter: pain control, reaction time, your ability to turn and move safely, and whether you are still taking opioid pain medication. You should not drive while taking opioid pain medication.
How soon can I go back to work after spine surgery?
Return to work depends on your job. For desk-based work after common minimally invasive procedures, median return to work in research studies ranges from about 14 days (lumbar decompression) to 25 days (lumbar fusion). Physical labor takes longer. Your surgeon should be able to give you a more specific picture based on your procedure and your work demands.
Is minimally invasive spine surgery still real surgery?
Yes. Minimally invasive spine surgery is still real surgery. The goal is to address the spine problem with less disruption to surrounding tissue when appropriate, but it still requires anesthesia, planning, restrictions, and recovery. Smaller cuts do not mean the decision is minor. The fear of spine surgery is appropriate for any spine surgery, including a minimally invasive one.
Can my family come to the consultation with me?
Yes — they are welcome and encouraged. The people who love a patient often see things the patient cannot describe, and bringing them into the consultation makes the conversation more accurate. They do not need to have medical questions ready. Their job is sometimes simply to describe what they have noticed at home.
What does the day of surgery actually look like at Vertrae®?
Many minimally invasive cases happen at Vertrae® Surgery Center, our spine-only outpatient surgery center. For surgeries done there, every patient goes home the same day. There are no overnight stays at the surgery center. Many patients begin recovery shortly after surgery, walk the same afternoon when appropriate, and are discharged home with a family member or friend. For more complex cases that need multi-level work, surgery happens at a hospital with an overnight stay or longer, depending on the case.
References (APA 7th Edition)
Lim, S., Bazydlo, M., Macki, M., Haider, S., Hamilton, T., Hunt, R., Chaker, A., Kantak, P., Schultz, L., Nerenz, D., Schwalb, J. M., Abdulhak, M., Park, P., Aleem, I., Easton, R., Khalil, J. G., Perez-Cruet, M. J., & Chang, V. (2022). Validation of the benefits of ambulation within 8 hours of elective cervical and lumbar surgery: A Michigan Spine Surgery Improvement Collaborative study. Neurosurgery, 91(3), 505–512. https://doi.org/10.1227/neu.0000000000002032
Shinn, D., Mok, J. K., Vaishnav, A. S., Louie, P. K., Sivaganesan, A., Shahi, P., Dalal, S., Song, J., Araghi, K., Melissaridou, D., Sheha, E. D., Sandhu, H. S., Dowdell, J. E., Iyer, S., & Qureshi, S. A. (2022). Recovery kinetics after commonly performed minimally invasive spine surgery procedures. Spine, 47(21), 1489–1496. https://doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0000000000004399
Subramanian, T., Shinn, D. J., Korsun, M. K., Shahi, P., Asada, T., Amen, T. B., Maayan, O., Singh, S., Araghi, K., Tuma, O. C., Singh, N., Simon, C. Z., Zhang, J., Sheha, E. D., Dowdell, J. E., Huang, R. C., Albert, T. J., Qureshi, S. A., & Iyer, S. (2023). Recovery kinetics after cervical spine surgery. Spine, 48(24), 1709–1716. https://doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0000000000004830
