Only 2% of ruptured discs had pain reduction by surgery. ??
And you got this source from where?
(let me guess, was it your chiropractor?)
I'm not claiming surgery will help with pain reduction in all cases. But if what you said were half true, then the >2% of folks I've worked with post surgery, who are near or virtually painfree are full of bovine poop.
Actually the numbers came form the liberal media in Denver. I think Consumer Reports had some similar results. A friend of mine had two surgeries because the company doctor said he was ready to go to work after two weeks and he blew out the disc again. If the spinal cord is pinched by the bulge in the disc surgery works.