More information about the procedure from Dr Johnson

If you would like more information about the Reactiv8 Implant procedure please contact us. We feel privileged to be entrusted with your spine health and we are passionate about reversing back pain.

Dr Johnson’s team will arrange a very timely consult with you which can be performed in person in his private practice rooms at Brisbane Private Hospital or if you live remotely Video Consultations are very common place now for Dr Johnson and his patients. We will be able to easily guide you through setting up your computer, tablet or mobile phone device.

Often a fresh MRI scan will be arranged as part of your consultation and we recommend that your General Practitioner forward a letter of referral indicating your other medical history and condition of low back pain for consideration of Reactiv8 Neurostimulation.

Dr Johnson will perform a thorough clinical assessment of you condition and review your imaging. A decision will be made about your suitability for the Reactiv8 procedure.

If you are a candidate for the procedure further education will be provided by the Reactiv8 allied health team who will provide you with further confidence in understanding of the goals, technique and very minimal risks of the procedure.

The procedure takes place at the Brisbane Private Hospital with a day of surgery admission. The anaesthetic and surgery is performed in a relatively short time frame and you will be able to mobilise as you were previously and freely on the Neurosurgical Ward 2-3 hours after the anaesthetic. Most often you will be discharged the following morning with advice on caring for the shallow incisions on your back.

Your implanted Reactiv8 Restorative Neurostimulator will be activated approximately 1 week after surgery and we will confirm that you are familiar with the use of the hand held remote control. Within 1 week you will commence your formal NeuroHAB Functional Movement Therapy Rehabilitation program at the Functional Movement Training Centre in Woolloongabba Brisbane.

Our Results

As a spinal neurosurgeon and back pain rehabilitation specialist Dr Johnson and his team are frequently referred the most challenging back pain patients. These patients present with severe pain and disability as measured by the gold standard screening of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Visual Analogue Pain Scores (VAS). On average in this cohort of highly challenging patients the average improvement is a 50 percent reduction in disability scores (ODI score) within 2 months. Importantly we and our patients do not expect zero pain immediately but patients frequently express that they finally after years of chronic pain appreciate that they are on a structure logical path to progressive recovery with increasing Functional Capacity and previously restricted lifestyle activities and a steady reduction in pain medication.

What does NOT work for Back Pain Symptoms? Common interventions and remedies that have poor validity.

Engaging in repetitive massage and deep tissue release therapy while ignoring the cause of muscle “tightness” and soft tissue inflammation.

Using pain medication, often with progressively increasing doses and potency while neglecting to understand the cause of the pain symptoms.

Having cortisone injections into the spine (epidural, facet joint, nerve root) without understanding why the structure being injected is inflamed or impinged.

Having radiofrequency ablation or neurotomy of the Medial Branch Nerve of the spine (often referred to as “burning” the nerve)  without addressing why the nerve is hyperactive and transmitting pain signals (Nociception).

Simply expecting that resting up and restricting your lifestyle activities will resolve your back pain while ignoring the cause of why you are limited in your lifestyle activities. Although this will likely give you temporary relief it will not provide benefit from future flare ups and the slippery slope of further progressive restrictions to your activities of daily living.

Losing weight. Many people are told or believe that being overweight is the cause of their back pain symptoms, yet there are many normal weight people who have low back pain too and also many overweight people do not have back pain. It is misguided to attribute back pain symptoms to body weight.

Inadequate exercise. Many people believe that they have back pain because they do not exercise enough and at the same time many people feel they have back pain because they exercise too much. Your level of exercise and physical activity is not a causative factor for back pain.

Blaming your job. Many people who are physical labourers blame their job for their back pain and at the same time many people who are sedentary office workers blame their job for their low back pain. Like exercise, the level of physical activity in your job is not causative for low back pain.

Core strength. Almost everyone who has back pain is advised to strengthen their core muscles yet there is very little evidence that strengthening core muscles provides sustained relief for low back pain. Most patients with back pain will relate to spending months or years trying to strengthen their core and not improving in their back pain symptoms. There are many high level athletes with extremely strong core muscles who suffer from low back pain and there are many people with very weak core muscles who experienced no back pain at all. A shift in mind set is required. Think about how skillful or coordinated your core is, not how strong it is. I would rather you be a weak person moving well than a strong person moving poorly.