I believe that's the standard currently. My father had back issues and when I consulted my brother who's an MD he said surgery is used as a last resort as it al

I believe that's the standard currently. My father had back issues and when I consulted my brother who's an MD he said surgery is used as a last resort as it almost inevitably has its own heavy side effects. Pain medication, when used, is symptomatic treatment and not meant to be a solution-- when used it's just to allow a relatively normal life so that you don't lose you job and neglect your kids until you can get your treatment sorted out. Referrals to physical therapists or chiros is the standard, as the best thing one can do is apply simple therapies(hot & cold packs, electric stimulation, local steroid injections to reduce swelling, etc) and teach exercises to strengthen support muscles. Some doctors can be malicious, but most are just trying to navigate a very difficult issue with little few silver bullets