Eighty percent of Americans experience back pain in varying degrees at some point in their lives. In fact, back pain is second only to the common cold as a reason why people visit a doctor.

In The Back Book, Johns Hopkins surgeons Ziya L. Gokaslan and Lee Hunter Riley explain the causes and complexities of back pain and the various paths to diagnosis and treatment. Stressing the importance of individualized treatment, they discuss the process of establishing a treatment plan that is acceptable to the person with pain as well as to the attending physician. They also:

• lay out reasonable expectations for surgical and nonsurgical treatment
• illuminate the possibilities, risks, and limitations of back surgery
• describe how to select a surgeon and the importance of choosing the right one

Informative and reassuring, The Back Book provides readers with the knowledge they need to understand their back pain and get started on the route to relief.

Ziya L. Gokaslan, M.D., is the director of the Neurosurgical Spine Program and vice chairman of the department of neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University, where he is also the Donlin M. Long Professor and a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, and orthopaedic surgery. Lee Hunter Riley III, M.D., is the director of the Orthopaedic Spine Division and an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University.