You should see a spine specialist if you experience:

• Persistent back/neck pain lasting more than a few weeks
• Pain that radiates to your arms or legs
• Numbness, tingling, or weakness in your limbs
• Difficulty walking or maintaining balance
• Loss of bladder or bowel control (seek urgent care)
• No improvement with rest, medication, or physiotherapy

Early assessment can help prevent complications and support faster recovery.

I’m Dr. Colum Nolan, a Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon with over 20 years of medical and surgical practice, specialising in minimally invasive spine surgery (keyhole surgery), motion preservation surgery (disc replacement surgery) and in the utilisation of spinal navigation and robotic technologies such as:

• Anterior cervical discectomy and artificial disc replacement (or fusion)
• Minimally invasive lumbar discectomy / decompression
• Minimally invasive spine surgery
• Minimally invasive lumbar fusion
• Minimally invasive posterior cervical foraminotomy
• Pain intervention treatment – nerve block or epidural injection, facet joint radiofrequency ablation, annuloplasty/nucleoplasty

• Many people believe that all back pain needs surgery, but most cases can be treated with physiotherapy, medication, and lifestyle changes.
• Another common myth is that spine surgery is very risky or causes paralysis—modern techniques are safe and effective when done by experienced specialists.
• Some also think that once you have spine surgery, you'll always need more, but this is not true for most patients when the surgery is done for the right reasons.

Dr Colum will assess your condition thoroughly and recommend surgery only when it's the most appropriate and effective option for long-term relief.