Whenever you go under the knife, there is always some degree of risk involved. Whenever you choose to have a surgery, you have probably weighed the pros and cons of the procedure and decided that the pain of the recovery and the potential for side-effects is worth it to remedy your health. While some surgeries are necessary, there are others that are pointless and painful. It is sad to admit, but there are some surgeries that doctors will recommend just so they can line their pockets with some extra cash. Surgeries are always costly, and these procedures can often give doctors some extra spending money.

One commonly recommended but relatively unnecessary surgery is stents for stable angina. Stable angina is a chest pain that is brought on by exertion or stress, and is common in older individuals. Stents are tiny mesh tubes that a doctor will use to prop open arteries that carry blood to your heart. Often a physician will say that your arteries are collapsing, and these stents will help to make sure that your cardiac health is pristine and your stable angina is in check. Naturally, you want to preserve your heart, so you may agree to stents without any research. Yet analysts have determined that stents aren't necessary. Simple lifestyle changes can regulate your stable angina with just as much effectiveness as the stents can.

The 2007 Department of Veterans Affairs says that if a carrier exercises and takes statins to lower cholesterol, then that person will be doing just as much good. Yet even though the stents are relatively ineffective, surgeons implant 500,000 sets into willing patients every year. One Maine Medical Research Institute doctor says that surgeons will frequently insert the stents when they do a heart-catheterization process to evaluate a person's blood vessels. Normally, the catheterization should be done as a diagnostic test, and then if stenting is necessary it should be done later. If your doctor has recommended stenting, then you should ask for other alternatives first. By managing your cholesterol or reducing your stress level you may eliminate your need for stents at all, and save thousands of dollars on foregoing the unneeded surgery.

Another misleading surgery is known as a complex spinal fusion for stenosis. This occurs when a surgeon places bone grafts into the spine that weld two or more vertebrae together. Supposedly this operation can prevent severe back pain. It is performed on patients who are diagnosed with spinal stenosis. This is a condition where the soft tissues between the vertebrae flatten out and create pressure on the spinal cord. It can also affect the nerves that head to the back, arms, neck, legs, and shoulders. About 30,000 patients that receive Medicare underwent this surgery.

According to the AARP, this procedure is very invasive, and comes with a triple tendency to suffer life-threatening complications. Most patients who receive the surgery don't receive any more relief than they did from physical and behavioral therapy. If you have spinal stenosis, try therapy, cortisone injections, acupuncture, or medications before submitting to a complex spinal fusion.

Another surgery you may want to avoid is a knee arthroscopy. People who have been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis will sometimes have this procedure done. It involves inserting a little camera into the knee and then inserting instruments into an incision to repair torn cartilage. Studies have shown that this surgery is effective if the patient as torn meniscal tissues, but any other sort of osteoarthritis can be fixed with better, non-invasive methods. Normally you can opt for therapy and get the same results. Also, you may want to consider cortisone injections or exercise as a healthy alternative. Make sure that you doctors are not misleading you when they recommend treatments or surgeries. If you believe that were pressured into an unnecessary treatment, and if you experienced painful complications as a result, then you need to talk to a medical malpractice lawyer about filing a lawsuit.