subject: Spinal Surgery In Mexico Offers American Patients Relief From Chronic Lower Back Pain [print this page] Living with chronic back pain is always difficult. But for some, the experience is made even worse by insurance companies that refuse to pay for a treatment that could potentially reduce pain to manageable levels, or remove it altogether. Spinal fusion surgery is a recognized, highly effective surgery that creates dramatic changes in the level of comfort a spinal patient experiences. Yet shockingly few U.S. insurance companies treat spinal fusion surgery as the necessary treatment option that it is. Coverage is difficult to obtain, and at an average cost of $75,000, many find it as prohibitively expensive despite the benefits.
Yet for those whose insurance does not cover this type of back surgery or who do not have any health insurance, there is another option. Medical travel in Mexico offers medical and surgical care at state-of-the-art hospitals that is demonstrably the equal in quality and technology to the best U.S. surgeons and hospitals. Every year, thousands of people are drawn outside of America to top notch Mexico hospitals for spinal fusion surgery and dozens of other procedures, from dental care to weight loss surgery, orthopedic and cardiovascular surgery and more. Many Mexico hospitals provide medical travel services that allow U.S. and Canadian patients to reap the benefits of these excellent medical professionals without having to be concerned about paying a bloated bill.
Reluctant Insurance Companies
Speak to virtually any American in need of major medical care or surgery, and you will hear how difficult and expensive it can be to navigate through our private health insurance system. Patient stories abound excessively high premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for mediocre coverage abound; many learn that to be "insured" discover there are severe restrictions on the places they can go to receive the care needed. For many Americans, insurance is not even a viable option. The cost of insurance has become so high that many are forced to go without, especially those whose costs for insurance are higher because they are considered "at risk" for example, with pre-existing conditions. It is ironic that an applicant is considered "at risk", when he or she obviously needs health insurance the most, yet he or she is most likely to be rejected by a health insurance company.
Nowhere in medicine does the specter of inadequate insurance loom so large as with back pain. Even a person who is usually healthy can suffer from spinal problems that result in the need for costly and invasive treatments such as spinal fusion surgery. Chronic back pain is an agnostic condition, affecting men and women of all ages, insured or uninsured. And while nearly one million people per year suffer from debilitating back pain, only 250,000 people per year are able to afford spinal fusion surgery, which can easily cost up to $90,000 in some US hospitals, and leaves up to 1 in 4 patients with the same or worse pain they experienced pre-surgery.
Strengths of Medical Tourism to Mexico: Quality, Value, and Availability of New Procedures
One of the most innovative solutions to the crisis in the U.S. healthcare system is located just south of the border, that is, Mexico medical travel. In Mexico, U.S. patients are delighted to find state-of-the art private hospitals that cater to American medical travelers. These technologically advanced medical facilities feature international medical staff, including many surgeons who were trained and regularly practice in U.S. medical schools and hospitals. Mexico medical travel features pricing so affordable that paying cash out of pocket is frequently cheaper than paying the deductibles and out of pocket costs common to many inadequate U.S. health insurance policies.
The quality and accessibility of medical travel is excellent news for chronic back pain suffers who have exhausted many treatment options. Private hospitals in Mexico now offer Lumbar Dynamic Stabilization, a non-invasive alternative to spinal fusion surgery utilizing a revolutionary American-made medical device that requires no anesthesia and has a 90% success rate. This procedure is exclusively available in Mexico and Europe, but is still in the clinical trial phase in the U.S. The protocol for the LDS procedure was authored by a Mexican surgeon who has taught the European and U.S. surgeons performing the surgery today. Americans can receive this visionary surgery in a top private hospital in Mexico at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional spinal fusion surgery.
Putting it Together
Regardless of the surgical treatment a patient chooses for alleviating life long back pain, whether the exciting new Lumbar Dynamic Stabilization procedure or the more conventional, traditional spinal fusion procedure, medical travel to Mexico is among the most high quality, high value solutions available in the world for spinal surgery. There are many medical travel companies serving the U.S. market for patients seeking healthcare abroad, offering accredited, quality private hospitals to choose from in major metropolitan areas such as Tijuana, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Juarez.
Americans considering medical travel should carefully research their hospital and surgeon options and avoid price-focused players in the market; with so many state-of-the art hospitals already serving the American medical travel market, it will be easy to find the solution that meets specific needs in terms of surgical training/expertise, convenient location, cooperation with U.S. medical teams, and price/value. The internet is awash with positive testimonials from patients who have experienced medical travel to Mexico for procedures such as hip replacement, hip resurfacing, gastric surgery and angioplasty and now, spinal procedures such as the new lumbar dynamic stabilization.
Once a patient chooses a hospital, the medical travel facilitator will arrange a surgeon consult to discuss the procedure option and details such as expectations for the surgery experience and recovery time.
