In the medical world a second opinion meaning getting a second doctor’s opinion on a patient’s diagnosis. The second doctor will review the patient’s history and scans as well as examine the patient, then either give the patient a new diagnosis or confirm that the previous diagnosis is correct. A second opinion can help the patient to feel more reassured, likely give better understanding and more information about the diagnosis.

Sometimes the doctor that gives you the second opinion may be able to offer you different treatment options or discuss the options further.

A second opinion is something that happens across all areas of medicine; from cancer care to orthopaedic care and also neurosurgery!

Some of the most common areas in neurosurgery that patients seek a second opinion are back pain, intractable pain and facial pain.

Back pain – this is extremely common and will usually resolve itself within a couple of weeks or months but patients can also experience life-long symptoms of back pain.

Intractable pain – this is pain that is extremely hard to diagnose and also very hard to find a treatment that works for it. This is common as back pain, facial pain and headache.

Facial pain – there are lots of different conditions that can lead to facial pain, such as hemifacial spasm and trigeminal neuralgia.

Both intractable pain and facial pain can be multifactorial in nature and due to the complexity of the causes can often be misdiagnosed, and therefore treatment may be ineffective, which is not only troubling and frustrating but also have a have impact on patients’ quality of life.

If you would like a second opinion on a recent diagnosis or test conducted from a new doctor, please call us on 0207 034 8709 or email us at info@londonneurosurgerypartnership.co.uk

It is important to note that our neurosurgeons at London Neurosurgery Partnership treat a number of different conditions, including both adult and paediatric conditions. This means that our consultants can give a second opinion on a wide range of neurological and spinal conditions.