Leading minimally invasive Texas back and spine doctors

Have a chronic back condition you just can’t deal with anymore? Or maybe you recently hurt your back and the combination of rest and anti-inflammatories isn’t working. If you’re ready to get treatment, it makes sense that you’d want to consider minimally invasive back treatments and that you’d want to make sure you find an industry leader to give yourself the best chance at ending your back pain. But how do you know which DFW back and spine doctors make the cut, so to speak?

Figuring out which back doctors are leaders in minimally invasive techniques is easier than you think. Ensure you get treated by the best by following a few tips.

Ask for referrals—and be specific

Your primary care physician and any other doctors and medical professionals you currently see should be the first people you ask when trying to find a back doctor. But you’ll need to make sure you let them know that you are specifically looking for a spine doctor who is experienced in minimally invasive back treatments. Despite the growing popularity of this area and the many advantages of minimally invasive procedures for patients, there is still a relatively small number of back doctors who can call themselves specialists—estimated at about 10 percent.

“Minimally invasive surgery is highly technical. This requires significant training of the surgeon as well as the OR staff. Furthermore, the equipment needed to perform these procedures safely and effectively can be very expensive,” according to the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS).

Doctors who pursue this specialty are generally committed to advanced treatments and surgical methods to help eliminate back pain even for chronic sufferers, which is one of the reasons patients look to them over doctors who emphasize more traditional procedures including open surgery, which can be much harder on the body and require a longer surgery and recovery time.

Search sites like Top 10 MD

Top 10 MD “America’s first and only standards-based patient to doctor advocacy service, which goes “beyond directory rating review sites and validates doctors’ credentials against a core set of standards.” It’s an easy way to learn about a doctor’s credentials, make sure they’re “board certified and licensed in the state they practice,” that there are not excessive complaints or sanctions, that their malpractice insurance is current and they have all the registrations they need. “And lastly, each of our doctors has five+ years experience and/or 300 procedures performed in their chosen specialty. Each of our doctors is implementing a patient satisfaction scoring system and will maintain a score of 8.5 or better.”

Make sure your doctor is continuously learning

It’s one thing to have learned all the techniques required to become a surgeon, and another to have the spirit of innovation that drives you to continue progressing as new techniques are developed. “The scope, complexity and procedures available continue to evolve at a rapid rate.” While researching doctors, in addition to board certification and state medical license, you’ll also want to look for things like research awards or protocols, which indicate ongoing learning, and clinical instructor positions and publishings, which indicate leadership qualities.

If you’re ready to consider minimally invasive surgical treatments or if you want more information about treatment options, contact DISC Spine Institute, experts in minimally invasive treatments, the most effective medical procedures to treat and eliminate chronic back pain.

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