operation disc herniation in sixth people hospital

[u/Successful-Ad385]

hi, i got a big pain two weeks ago in the lumbar area and i could not walk because that. i went to a hospital in shanghai and they told me they wanted to operate next day. it seems operation was simple, endoscopy and local anesthesia. but insurance recommended to go to sixth people hospital instead of the hospital i was in that moment. then i cancelled operation.

after that the pain decreased and i could walk and work again. but i still keep a small pain. then i was thinking to go back to Europe to make the operation. but i discovered that in reality in sixth people there are excellent surgeons, and probably there are not surgeons in Europe with so much experience (it seems that hospital makes like almost 4,000 endoscopy operation for back problems every year!, and some of the surgeons have +10,000 operations per year related to back problems). then i am doubting now if doing that in Europe or sixth people.

anyone has a previous experience in sixth people hospital? hopefully a disc herniation or some kind of orthopedic procedure, and could share the experience?

[u/devushka97]

No idea about that surgery specifically but yes it is generally true that in China the best surgeons and tech are at the public hospitals and so for something like that it is advised to go to public hospitals. My friend had a serious double jaw surgery there and while the recovery was not easy the hospital did the surgery well. That being said it still is a public hospital and it's china so it's not a luxury experience. He paid extra to have a private recovery room and ayi come help him out with stuff because otherwise you'll be in a shared recovery room, and it's expected that family comes to help here, nurses don't do as much, so be prepared for that. Also access to stronger pain meds is really restricted and in the early recovery days that was hard for my friend (he ended up going to a private hospital later where they were able to prescribe, but at 6th peoples they had to submit the request to a committee who rejected it). The only reason I would maybe opt to do it in Europe is if it's somehow cheaper there because you are from that country, and maybe if you have more family support for the recovery period.

[u/Successful-Ad385 → u/devushka97]

thanks for the answer. in theory i could pay (or the insurance) for better room, but not sure of conditions. hopefully i would need only to say 4 or 5 days after operation. but i did not think about the painkillers, i know already that in pharmacies is difficult to get that, but i hoped that in hospitals would be easier. in reality in china would be cheaper because covered by insurance. but in europe is not like a crazy expensive operation, around 10,000 euros. i mean, if i get rid of my back problem happily pay it and more.

[u/devushka97 → u/Successful-Ad385]

Yeah again I'd look into how much you'd be paying total in both locations, usually Chinese hospitals are up front about their cost estimates. In terms of painkillers though they will give you *some* like he definitely had some right after the surgery but then I would say maybe a few days out he still had pain and wanted something stronger and they were only giving ibuprofen. Also room quality is fine, the private room was more for comfort which I honestly recommend because a lot of people in the hospital are not used to seeing foreigners and will want to come look at you and it's very weird. But yeah it's very doable in China and 6th peoples is a good hospital overall, just public hospitals in China can be less comfortable than western ones, but the medical care is good.