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Backache Surgery can almost never help
Millions of people in Germany repeatedly suffer from back pain. The symptoms can have different causes and vary in intensity. Although the number of those who are being treated in hospitals is increasing in Germany, experts believe that therapy in the clinic is often less well suited.
More and more patients due to back pain in the hospital
Back pain is one of the most common health problems that people in this country suffer from. Sometimes it is only slight tensions that lead to back pain, but in other cases, a severe herniated disc can be the cause. The treatment methods are varied, according to health experts, conservative therapies for back pain often enough. Nevertheless, more and more patients come to Germany with such symptoms in the hospital. As the news agency dpa reports, many sufferers, according to Barmer GEK would be better at the doctor or therapist.
Hardly conventional help with back pain. Image: staras - fotolia Complaints can have different causes
In a report on the topic writes the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (SZ) online, that 85 percent of all Germans at some point in their lives have problems in the cross. However, experts often emphasize that it is not always the cross itself that is at fault, but can also put psychological causes behind it. According to the SZ, back pain is the reason in 15 percent of the cases when employees are written sick. And if they retire earlier from work, that is in 18 percent of cases suffering on the cross. The Barmer GEK Hospital Report 2015 presented on Tuesday in Berlin now reveals that more and more back pain patients are seeking help in a clinic. Accordingly, the number of such hospital cases increased from around 282,000 in 2006 to 415,000 in 2014.
Frequently, patients can not be helped in the clinic
"Apparently, patients also end up in hospital, which can not really be helped there," said Barmer CEO Christoph Straub. About a third would therefore not get surgery or pain management in the clinics. Rather, mostly X-rays or magnetic resonance tomographies were made instead. "For these approximately 140,000 patients, one can speak of a misuse, which urgently needs to be eliminated," says Straub. Normally doctors in charge of such diagnostic services would be responsible. If patients go to a clinic, the treatment may cost significantly more. Health insurance funds have an interest in keeping the number of examinations low, for which a visit to a clinic is not necessary. Von Straub also demanded professional, interdisciplinary care from general practitioners.
Back surgery as a last resort
Health experts believe that in many cases, back pain exercises can help. In addition, they often recommend relaxation exercises to reduce stress, as the symptoms often come from stress or other mental health problems. But many patients erred in their back pain for years through healthcare without being helped, Straub explained. Often the back surgery is recommended as a last resort for some of the patients. However, experts are arguing over how to answer the question: Herniated Disc Operation: yes or no? should answer. However, the fact is that the number of such interventions between 2006 and 2014 has risen by 12.2 percent and the number of spinal stiffeners by 83.1 percent.
Expectation of pain patients is high
It has been reported that intervertebral disc surgery has been followed more and more by stiffening surgery within a year or two. The boss of the Barmer recommends the patient in the face of the high rates of increase before surgery necessarily seek a second medical opinion. "After all, care should be taken before the scalpel is applied, because not every operation on the spine is necessary and useful." According to a Barmer survey of more than 900 patients, many are dissatisfied with hospital treatment. Only about one third was pain free 18 months after the clinic treatment. "Expectations of treatment in hospitals are very high in patients with pain," explained study author Eva Maria Bitzer from the University of Freiburg. Therefore, the doctors would have to explain more consistently what treatment could afford. "Freedom from pain is not necessarily one of them." (Ad)