Michael O'Malley - Spine Surgeon
Welcome to the website of Michael O'Malley - Consultant Spinal Surgeon.
Who am I?
I am an orthopaedic spinal surgeon. I trained at Liverpool University, graduating in 1992. As well as my primary medical degrees (MB, ChB) I also have a BSc(Hons) in Human Anatomy and Cell Biology (Liverpool 1989), an MSc in Orthopaedic Engineering (Cardiff 2000), and am a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (Trauma & Orthopaedics).
I have worked at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham in 2003 as the BOA/SAC Spinal Fellow. Since finishing there I have been a consultant orthopaedic, trauma and spinal surgeon at Warrington Hospital, Cheshire.
Almost 100% of my elective work in recent months has been spinal cases. Prior to this I also performed general orthopaedic procedures (hip/knee replacements, hands/feet procedures, arthroscopies). However due to the pressure of numbers of spinal cases, I now perform mainly spinal surgery and injections.
About this website
This is a site to give information about the symptoms of spinal problems, the spinal conditions causing these symptoms and their treatment, including spinal surgery.
The first thing to remember is that there are as many different opinions on how to treat spinal conditions as there are spinal surgeons! This also extends to the interpretation of the literature.
Spinal surgeons are either trained via an orthopaedic or a neurosurgical route. The question is often asked: who is the best? The answer is simple: a good spinal surgeon can be either. Classically the neurosurgeon is specialized in treating those conditions affecting the spinal cord / brain. The orthopaedic surgeon is one who is specialized in treating bones / joints and in the use of screws, cages, etc and also in understanding biomechanics and biomaterials. Both are able to be spine surgeons if adequately trained.
Problems with the spine will affect most of the adult population at some point in their lives. This seems to be more prevalent now with the faster pace of life and the demand for a more active lifestyle.
The spine, for some reason, seems to be viewed by the general public as an area of the body that should be treated differently to all others. If it aches or hurts, then the prevailing wisdom is to immobilize it: keep it still; stay off work; stop all sports. However if it were the shoulder or hamstrings that were injured, most people would “grin and bear it” and just get on with it.
Why is the spine felt to be different? There is a worry that they will “end up in a wheelchair” or “be paralyzed” if they keep on using a back that is sore. Certainly this is their biggest worry when spinal surgery is mentioned. Sometimes it is simply a useful excuse to give up a work that they don’t like. Psychology plays a large part in spine-related problems. But not all spine patients have a psychological problem. The difficulty is understanding which patient will be best treated by a particular management plan.
The spine is a wonderful anatomical entity. Its sum is far greater than its parts. There are many (some spine surgeons included) who feel that there is no surgical remedy for back pain and that most is in the individual’s mind and they just have to get on with it and take painkillers and physical therapy. In many cases this is actually reasonable.
But what about those people who are truly incapacitated with pain, have been through all therapies and medication, and are not malingering? I believe that these people should be investigated to find the source of their pain and they may be benefited by surgery. This does NOT mean that everyone gets an operation however. Surgery is the last option in the vast majority of cases, only to be utilized after time, analgesics, physical therapies (including physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropracty), and possible injection therapy. Only in cases such as trauma, tumour or infection does surgery become one of the first options.
The medical literature (either in print or on the internet) can be interpreted in whichever way you like to make it fit your own views. There are many who site the medical literature to say that spinal surgery is ineffective and at worst dangerous. However, there is also literature to show the opposite! This is a very confusing situation for surgeon and patient! Spinal conditions are becoming more and more understood as techniques of investigation become ever more sophisticated but the spinal community is still unclear as to the best ways to treat these conditions. Caution is sensible at this point in time but surgery is still a useful option to utilize in certain instances.