What is a Spine Surgeon?
Your guide to spine specialists, spinal procedures, and back care
A spine surgeon is a physician who specializes in the surgical treatment of conditions affecting the spinal column, spinal cord, and surrounding nerves. Spine surgery is somewhat unique in that it's practiced by two different types of surgeons: orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons. Both can subspecialize in spine through fellowship training, and both perform many of the same procedures. The difference lies in their residency background — orthopedic spine surgeons approach the spine through a musculoskeletal lens, while neurosurgical spine surgeons come from a nervous system perspective. In practice, there's significant overlap.
Regardless of their training pathway, spine surgeons complete at least six to eight years of postgraduate surgical training before practicing independently. A spine fellowship adds one to two years on top of that, with focused training in complex spinal reconstruction, minimally invasive techniques, and spinal deformity correction.
When would you need a spine surgeon?
Most back and neck pain resolves with conservative treatment — physical therapy, medication, injections, or simply time. A spine surgeon typically enters the picture when those measures haven't worked after several weeks or months, or when imaging reveals a structural problem that's compressing the spinal cord or nerves.
Common conditions spine surgeons treat include herniated discs, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis (vertebral slippage), spinal fractures, scoliosis, and spinal tumors. Symptoms that often prompt a surgical referral include radiating arm or leg pain, numbness or tingling in the extremities, progressive weakness, and loss of bowel or bladder control — the last being a medical emergency.
Procedures range from minimally invasive microdiscectomies that take under an hour to complex multi-level spinal fusions and deformity corrections. Advances in minimally invasive spine surgery, navigation technology, and robotic-assisted instrumentation have reduced tissue disruption and recovery times for many of these operations.
If you've been referred for a spine surgery consultation or conservative treatments aren't resolving your symptoms, you can find a spine surgeon near you through our directory.