True story. Back in the Clinton days, there was a committee created to evaluate medical treatments and make official recommendations on which were cost effective and which were not.

Their first recommendation was that back surgery was not called for until the possibility of all other treatments had been ruled out. The data for this back in the 1990s was very strong and based on the facts, it should have been non-controversial. The data showed a fairly low success rate, and even for the short-term successes, a 10 year prognosis that was worse for equivalent patients than any alternative treatment. (Including "do nothing".)

The data notwithstanding, back surgeons as a group are very well off and tend to donate to politicians. Furthermore hospital administrators make more money off of back surgery than the others. En masse they began calling their local congress critter to say that something had to be done about this committee report. The result was that Congress got together and the committee report quickly got buried, and the committee's remit was changed so that it no longer could issue such recommendations.

As long as you can approach back problems with exercise, do so.

For my wife's problem? What worked was Valium to solve the back spasms, the disk slipped back in and luckily the nerves had not been killed while it was out, and then a slow exercise regime to stabilize her back. However until her spine was well and truly better and she had better stabilization, NOTHING to cause compression of the spine. (Which deadlifts do.)