Can neurosurgeons treat spine problems?

Yes — spinal surgery is a very large part of what I do. In South Africa, both neurosurgeons and orthopaedic spinal surgeons operate on the spine; the training paths differ but the operations overlap significantly.

The most common spinal operations I perform are lumbar microdiscectomy for a herniated disc with sciatica, cervical anterior discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for a compressive disc in the neck, and decompressive laminectomy for lumbar stenosis in older patients.

I also treat spinal tumours — both those arising from the spinal cord and nerve roots themselves, and metastases from cancers elsewhere — spinal infections, fractures and selected cases of deformity requiring fusion.

Most back and neck pain does not need surgery. When it does, the goal is almost always to relieve nerve compression, not to fix pain directly. That distinction matters — and I will always be honest with you about what an operation can and cannot achieve.