715 Back Pain

Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical attention. Nearly everyone has a sore back at some time or another, but some people are incapacitated for long periods of time. How should back pain be treated? When is surgery appropriate?
Guests: Andrew Hecht, MD, is Co-director of Spine Surgery at Mount Sinai in the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics. Dr. Hecht is the spine surgical consultant to the New York Jets and New York Islanders professional teams, as well as numerous collegiate teams at Hofstra University and Molloy College. The black-and-white photo is of Dr. Hecht. His Web site is www.mountsinai.org/spine
Nortin Hadler, MD, is Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is attending rheumatologist at UNC Hospitals. His books include The Last Well Person: How to Stay Well Despite the Health Care System and Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America. Backbone: Personal, social and policy consequences of low back pain will be published in early 2009.
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