Internationally Renowned Medical Expert,Aaron G. Filler MD, Shares the Hard Facts About Back and Neck Pain to Arm Suffers With Knowledge They Need

Dr. Aaron G. Filler MD, has authored a surgeon's guide to neck and back pain and how sufferers can choose a range of treatments. Dr Filler outlines all of the treatments available as well as the risks of surgery.

Los Angeles, CA August 16, 2004 -- Internationally Renowned Medical Expert, Aaron G. Filler, MD Shares the Hard Facts About Back & Neck Pain to Arm Sufferers With Knowledge They Need.

Do you suffer from chronic back pain that youd try anything to get rid of? If so you're not alone. Over 1.25 million patients have MRI scans annually but only 15% get successful treatment. Over 300,000 undergo painfuland painfully expensivelumbar spine surgeries each year to correct back pain and one third dont feel any better afterwards. Almost a million dont get help. Outdated MRI scans and EMG testing yield misleading information to doctors nationwide, who in turn recommend procedures that can have little effect in curing the pain.

Now theres something you can do. Internationally recognized expert in nerve and spinal surgery Dr. Aaron G. Filler, MD, PhD has written a comprehensive guide to what causes back pain, what your options are to treat it and what the risks and rewards are to choosing surgery. DO YOU REALLY NEED BACK SURGERY? A Surgeons Guide to Neck and Back Pain & How to Choose Your Treatment is the laymans comprehensive guide that covers everything back patients need to know to make informed, realistic decisions about their treatment.

The biggest problem is that doctors still rely on physical and neurological diagnostic techniques that have proven to be ineffective, according to Dr. Filler. Terrific advances have been made in the field that simply arent yet in standard use.

Lumbar MRI provides misleading diagnostic information more than 90% of the time, said Filler. The physical exam is actually very limited and really has not advanced to keep pace with current knowledge. The best way forward appears to be the correct application of new technology and improved education on the part of patients.

For instance newly available MR Neurography imaging of nerves and the use of open MRI for real-time guidance during diagnostic tests are two desperately needed advances that have only just become available. The book provides detailed explanations of these techniques as well as a wide array of new spinal injections, surgeries and procedures now available to the patient.

The book also details the differences between acute, chronic and recurring pain and goes over exercise and preventative measures to keep the spine healthy. DO YOU REALLY NEED BACK SURGERY? A Surgeons Guide to Neck and Back Pain and How to Choose Your Treatment is an authoritative, easy-to-read one-stop-shop for back pain suffers that will help empower patients to make better decisions about their treatment. It will also help stem the flow of unhelpful MRI scans and ill-advised spine surgeries that annually cost the insurance industry $1.25 billion and $45 billion respectively.

AUTHOR BIO:
Dr. Aaron G. Filler (MD University of Chicago, PhD Harvard University) is one of the worlds leading experts on spinal surgery and diagnostic imaging. He is the holder of numerous significant patents in the medical field and has published many important scientific articles including a major report on diagnostic and treatment methods just published in Neurologic Clinics (Saunders/Elsevier). Dr Filler has appeared as a guest on CNN, with Peter Jennings on ABC World News Tonight and the BBC. He has been interviewed by such prestigious publications as The New York Times and The Economist, among many others.

Dr Filler has taught at UCLA, Harvard University, and the University of London. He is currently Medical Director of the Institute for Nerve Medicine in Santa Monica, California and an associate of the Institute for Spinal Disorders at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Do You Really Need Back Surgery? A Surgeons Guide to Neck and Back Pain and How to Choose Your Treatment is his second book. Additional information, including color illustrations from Dr. Fillers book can be accessed via www.backpain-guide.com.

Do You Really Need Back Surgery? A Surgeons Guide to Neck and Back Pain and How to Choose Your Treatment is available in major bookstores and outlets across the U.S, including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com

DO YOU REALLY NEED BACK SURGERY?
A Surgeons Guide to Neck and Back Pain and How to Choose Your Treatment
By Aaron G. Filler, MD, PhD
Publisher: Oxford University Press
352 pages; $25.00
ISBN)-19-515835-0

For a media interview with Dr. Aaron G. Filler MD contact Charlie Barrett, The Barrett Company Communications, Los Angeles, 310-471-5764.

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