Tallahassee, Florida, June 23, 2008 – A recent study published in the British Medical Journal reports that spinal surgery for patients with sciatica offers a short term benefit,

• 80% of the Western world will have at least 1 episode of disabling back pain.
• 60% of these patients will have another episode of back pain within 1 year.
• 45% of these patients will have another episode within 4 years.
• 15% of patients with back pain progress to permanent disabilities costing 90% of total expenditures. 
• Strengthening and re-education of the multifidus and transversus abdominus are key to avoiding chronic back pain.