[johnb]

I'd say one size doesn't fit all. Spine problems are complex. My facet joints fused together, inside their capsules, after dynesys (they were a major undiagnosed pain generator) and I've been doing well since having the dynesys removed. They fused becuase their wasn't hardly any cartilage left on them, they were that bad but not diagnosed by a harvard trained, well respect surgeon in the southeast U.S. I still have the same detiorated discs but they aren't painful. In fact, L5-S1 looks is flat as a pancake but not painful AT ALL. I've met surgeons that don't share the fact that discs can lose their ability to generate pain at the latter stages of the deterioration process (of course, stenosis can develop with low disc height). In fact, I had one surgeon awhile back who told me that discs always become more painful the more they deteriorate. This was an obviously sales tactic to get me on the operating table. That kind of dishonesty is dispicable.

I kept hope alive but I honestly thought, especially after dynesys inplantation disabled me more instead of helping, that my situation was not going to improve as I've been dealing with back problems for over 15 years. I thought I was avoiding fusion but ended up with an unintended posterior fusion that has reduced my pain. Only time will tell if I have adjacent problems in the near term but I've been enjoying this reduction in pain. Get a good diagnosis and multiple opinions before decided on a course of action.