Dr. Joshua John-Ram SchacterDr. Joshua Schacter, DO FAAOS, is America’s Holistic Orthopedic Surgeon, with nearly two decades of surgical expertise.

Orthopedic Surgeon "Best Surgery is No Surgery"

2 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, an orthopedic surgeon reflects on a shift in perspective, asserting that the optimal surgery is the one never performed. He emphasizes that surgical interventions affect not only the patient’s health and lifestyle but also impose downtime and caregiving burdens on family, friends, and the broader support network. While successful surgeries pose no issue, any complication instantly extends the impact to everyone involved, underscoring the importance of considering non‑surgical alternatives and the wider social costs of operative care.

Chapters

As an orthopedic surgeon, I used to make my living doing surgery, but now I think differently because actually the best surgery is the one that you never have. Surgery can have significant impacts on not just your life and lifestyle, but those around you. Think about that downtime. Think about the amount of effort that the people around you are going to need to spend to help you get over that surgery. So that surgery doesn't just affect you and the way that you feel, but it affects everyone around you, your life, your network of friends, your family, all of those people who have to pitch in to take care of you. Those people are affected by that surgery too. And as long as that surgery goes well, it's great, it's no problem. But the second there's a complication or a problem, then everybody's affected. So something to think about.