If you suffer a severe back injury or your primary care physician recommends that you consult with a specialist for your spine pain, you might be wondering how to find the right doctor to provide you with care. What are the signs of a good spine surgeon, and how can you tell that a specialist would likely be a good fit for your situation? In today’s blog, we share five qualities that you should look for in a spine surgeon if you ever need to find a specialist to help with your back issue.
The Best Qualities For Back Surgeons
When setting up consultations or working to determine who you should see for your back pain, look for these qualities in a prospective spine surgeon, and your care will be in good hands.
- Good Listener – Although you’re likely going to want to learn a lot of information from the spine specialist about your condition and care, it’s important that your interaction with the surgeon is not just a one-sided conversation. A good spine surgeon will ask questions about your injury, your symptoms, your lifestyle and your goals when it comes to care. Information you provide will help to chart the best course of care, and a spine surgeon can’t provide the best recommendations if they don’t take the time to listen to the patient.
- Singular Specialty – Choose a specialist that only works on the spine and has years of experience treating the specific issue you’re dealing with. Dr. Jackman and his team are solely focused on spine-related issues, which means he has a deep knowledge of the spinal system and the best ways to treat all sorts of issues that can cause back pain. Trust your care to someone who just handles spine problems.
- They Educate – As we talk about on Dr. Jackman’s profile page, the word doctor comes from the Latin root “diverse,” which means to teach. We want to help treat your pain, but we also make it a point to help educate each patient that walks in the door. Before they leave, we want them to understand what’s causing their pain, what they can do to treat it, and what factors they can control to help get back to a pain-free way of living. Explaining things in terms patients understand helps them to follow through on care recommendations. Find a specialist who can help explain what’s going on and how you can best treat it.
- Highly Recommended – It’s also a good idea to look through a prospective specialist’s profiles online to see what former patients are saying about their care with that provider. While website reviews can be helpful, go to other sites that the doctor doesn’t have direct control over, like Healthgrades or a Google business profile. Don’t just look at the ratings, read what patients are saying and see if the doctor is responding if there are patients who weren’t completely satisfied with their care. If the doctor is still trying to help patients and provide advice, it’s a sign that they care about their well-being.
- Confidence – You want to find a spine specialist who is confident in their ability to help you overcome your condition. Even if you’re dealing with a severe issue or the odds seem stacked against you, you want to find a surgeon who leaves you feeling hopeful or confident that you’ll be able to find a solution. You want a specialist who exudes confidence, and you want to feel confident in their ability to provide you with a high level of care.
If you want a spine specialist that has all these qualities and more, connect with Dr. Jackman and his team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute. He won’t stop until he finds a solution that’s right for you. For more information, give his team a call today at (651) 430-3800.
