Back surgery (spinal surgery) at Spire Alexandra Hospital

At Spire Alexandra Hospital, our orthopaedic (bone and muscle) consultants and neurosurgeons have wide experience in performing back surgery in our clean and modern facilities. They’ll offer you a treatment and recovery plan that’s personalised to you, to relieve your symptoms and help you get back to your everyday activities. We have expert nurses and physiotherapists who’ll provide you with the aftercare you need to make a full recovery.

At Spire Alexandra Hospital, our consultants are highly skilled at performing back surgery for a variety of conditions. Your consultant will be able to recommend the best type of surgery for your needs. This may include one or more of the following:

• Discectomy – to remove part of a slipped disc and relieve associated symptoms
• Laminectomy – to remove part of a vertebra to relieve pressure on the spinal cord
• Spinal fusion – to strengthen your back

We’re able to offer surgical techniques and innovations that have been designed to improve outcomes. This includes minimally invasive discectomy, which uses smaller incisions than traditional techniques, resulting in faster recovery.

At Spire Alexandra, we have high-quality facilities, including two operating theatres with laminar flow. These theatres regulate air flow to reduce the risk of infection.

Getting here

You'll find us approximately eight miles from Maidstone and five miles from Chatham. The nearest railway station is Chatham, a 10 minute taxi journey away. We have free parking available for you and your visitors.

Your consultations

During your consultations, you’ll meet one of our expert consultants who’ll:

• Discuss your medical history
• Recommend tests and scans if required, such as an X-ray, an MRI or a CT scan, so they can look at your back in more detail
• Discuss which type of surgery you’ll need for your condition and what it’ll involve
• Explain about the general anaesthetic and how it may affect you

Your appointments will take place in one of our 13 consultation rooms which are all accessible making things easier for you if you have difficulty walking. These consultations give you an opportunity to ask questions and get advice about what’s best for you. Once you’ve decided to go ahead with back surgery, your consultant will help you prepare and explain your recovery plan.

During your time with us you’ll stay in one of our 25 large, bright, private rooms. We expect you to be here for between one and four days, dependent on what type of procedure you undergo.

For your own comfort and that of your visitors, at Spire Alexandra Hospital, we have a restaurant and a waiting room which they can use while you're undergoing your operation.

For your procedure you’ll be given a general anaesthetic, so you’ll be asleep for the operation.

Following your surgery, you’ll begin your recovery in one of our private rooms, all of which contain:

• TV
• En-suite
• Window
• Armchair
• Wardrobe

You may feel discomfort following your procedure, but your nursing team will make sure you have pain relief medication to help manage this. They’ll also be able to advise you on over-the-counter pain relief you can use while at home.

Physiotherapy also plays an important role in your recovery so we have a dedicated physiotherapy team who can provide you with tailored exercises to help you get the most from your operation.

Although everybody’s different and you should always follow your consultant’s advice, here’s a typical recovery timeline for back surgery: