Someone from my synagogue just had major back surgery (spinal stenosis, same vertebrae where I have it). She’s three weeks out and pain-free. Doc is amazed. She saw an ortho and a spinal neurosurgeon, and went with the latter. M
I’ve already talked to my back ortho about it to discuss the differences in approach, and encouraged me to get a second opinion with a neurospine doc. For now. I get epidural injections and take Lyrica. Not in a rush for this.
I did PT for six months on my knee and used all 60 PT visits. You can do everything the docs tell you and still aren’t guaranteed a good result.