Back Trouble

Here's a new study that speaks to me. The past few days, I've been suffering one of my periodic bouts of back pain, aggravated by shooting pains down my right leg. According to tomorrow's Journal of the American Medical Association, these are the classic symptoms of sciatica, where a bulging disk impinges on a nerve. But a new study that compared disk surgery to simply waiting for sciatica found that there was no difference in outcomes.

Guess I'll just wait for it to go away (I always do). I have no doubt that there are many cases where a chronic back ache may require surgery. But the data suggests that most people might as well wait. Less costly. Fewer complications. No difference in outcomes. Not a very hard choice, is it?