What If Getting Back to Life Didn’t Have to Involve Surgery?

When people experience persistent joint or back pain, it’s easy to assume that surgery is inevitable. After all, many are told that joint replacement or spinal procedures are “the only option left.”

But what if there were another path. One that didn’t involve the costs, risks, and recovery time of surgery?

It turns out there is. And it starts with rethinking what “getting better” really looks like.

The Problem With Surgery-First Thinking

Knee and back surgeries can be life-changing for some patients. But for others, especially those with moderate symptoms or biomechanical issues rather than structural breakdown, surgery may be unnecessary—or even ineffective¹.

National data show that a significant percentage of patients undergoing spinal fusion or arthroscopic procedures derive minimal benefit, and many still report chronic pain after recovery².

More importantly, surgeries come with serious trade-offs: long recovery times, opioid prescriptions, lost productivity, and high costs. For payors and providers, these procedures represent major spending with uncertain outcomes.

What the Right Alternative Looks Like

A real alternative must do more than avoid surgery. It must relieve pain, improve function, and help people return to the things that matter, without putting them through months of rehab or invasive procedures.

That’s where Apos® comes in.

Apos® is a foot-worn medical device cleared by the FDA for treating knee osteoarthritis and FDA registred for non-specific chronic low back pain. It works by shifting pressure away from painful areas and retraining the body’s movement patterns during walking.

You wear it for about an hour a day, while going about your normal life. No surgery. No clinic visits. No apps to check into.

And the results speak for themselves.

Evidence That Supports Avoidance

In a real-world observational study published in JHEOR, patients who used Apos® within a large risk-bearing provider group showed remarkable outcomes:

• 81% reduction in related healthcare costs
• Zero knee surgeries in the Apos®-treated group over a 20-month period³
• Significant reductions in pain and improved functional scores

These patients weren’t just avoiding surgery. They were healing—moving better, feeling stronger, and returning to daily activity without invasive intervention.

Other studies have shown similar outcomes. A randomized controlled trial found that Apos® therapy led to significant improvements in gait patterns, pain reduction, and knee function⁴. Longitudinal data have also confirmed high patient satisfaction and durability of results over time⁵.

Why It Works

Most surgical pathways address anatomy. Apos® addresses biomechanics…how forces move through the body and how the neuromuscular system adapts.

In many cases, pain results not from torn tissue or structural collapse, but from misalignment, compensation, and unhealthy gait patterns. Apos® helps correct those patterns gently and consistently, using the body’s own feedback loops to promote more efficient, less painful movement.

By engaging the brain and body together, Apos® retrains movement habits while building confidence, a crucial factor in long-term recovery.

A New Default for Conservative Care

Every patient deserves access to effective non-surgical care before being pushed down the path of invasive treatment. But the reality is, many people don’t receive any biomechanical intervention before being referred for surgery.

That’s a missed opportunity for the patient, the system, and for outcomes.

Apos® gives people a non-invasive option that’s grounded in science and delivered in real life. It’s not about avoiding surgery for its own sake. It’s about giving people the chance to get better without needing it.

Learn more about how Apos® can help avoid surgery at aposhealth.com

Sources

1. Deyo RA, Mirza SK, Turner JA, Martin BI. Overtreating chronic back pain: time to back off? J Am Board Fam Med. 2009;22(1):62–68. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2009.01.080102
2. Bederman SS, Coyte PC, Kreder HJ, Mahomed NN, McIsaac WJ, Wright JG. Who’s in the driver’s seat? A review of control and choice in patient decision-making for spine surgery. Spine. 2011;36(22):E1413–E1418.
3. Bar-Ziv Y, Ran Y, Shidlovski A, et al. Value-based care for musculoskeletal pain: real-world outcomes using a foot-worn device in a large, risk-bearing provider network. JHEOR. 2024;11(1):24–33.
4. Elbaz A, Mor A, Segal G, et al. A unique foot-worn device for treating knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial. J Clin Med. 2020;9(2):542.
5. Driban JB, Harkey MS, Lu B, Price LL, Eaton CB, Lo GH, McAlindon TE. Knee pain patterns and their associations with activity limitations: the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study. Arthritis Care Res. 2016;68(5):666–673.