See my other replies here - I am a skeptic like you, but I genuinely have zero trusts in professional. Anecdotal, but most surgeons in the US propose disk fusion for back pain that can be otherwise corrected. I know multiple people who got told they will never do sports again, should fuse their spinal disks, only for another doctor to tell them to rest a few weeks or do some stretches and now they are lifting and playing soccer.