ABOUT RAJIV BAJEKAL
My PHILOSOPHY
“I am a spinal and back pain specialist. I am a general Orthopaedic Surgeon with a specialist practice in low back pain surgery. I do not operate on other parts of the body – hips, knees, shoulders or hands although I can offer advice. My private practice is similar to my NHS practice. I believe patients need to be involved in their treatment, and I am delighted to spend time discussing treatment options, fears and concerns with them.”
BACK PAIN AND SCIATICA
Treatment of Sciatica by nerve root blocks which deliver the anti-inflammatory medication to the site directly is a very effective way of settling the pain while natural ‘healing occurs.’ We know that sciatica has a 75% chance of settling in 4 weeks without any treatment. Years of experience with injection techniques indicates that these injections have a very low risk of complications and a high chance of success.
Pure back pain is seldom a condition requiring surgery. More often than not, non-interventional methods work well for this condition.
I am married to Nitu Bajekal who is a Consultant Gynaecologist for 35 years and have two children. Rohini my older daughter is a plant-based nutritionist with a practice in London and Naina is Executive Editor for Time magazine and living in London. I have two rescue dogs to whom I am devoted and walk every day in the woods for two hours.
ORTHOPAEDICS & LIFESTYLE MEDICINE
In my medical career, I have observed that pure back pain is seldom a cause of the trouble. More often than not, non-interventional methods work well for this condition. I ventured into lifestyle medicine as it seemed intuitive to help patients treat the underlying cause and often avoid surgery, and have many added health benefits in the process. I believe I have become a much more ‘complete’ doctor due to my most recent lifestyle medicine qualification in 2019. My patients are sometimes pleasantly surprised that their diabetes has improved on taking my advice, even though they saw me for a back problem!
Lifestyle medicine allows the patient to be in the driver’s seat. I assess their lifestyle habits, offer changes and coach or facilitate the patient. Small incremental ‘habit changes’ result in significant health improvements. This medicine branch is empowering for patients, especially to learn that they take direct responsibility for their health instead of being dependent on a surgeon or physician. You can learn more about the many advantages of adopting a better lifestyle by visiting the lifestyle medicine page.
"I believe that patients need to be involved in decisions about their treatment options. Most back problems can be resolved without surgery."
Rajiv Bajekal
Rajiv Bajekal is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon with special interest in Spinal and Back-related issues. He has developed a pragmatic approach to managing back pain and sciatica with non-surgical techniques, injections and minimally invasive techniques. Mr Bajekal is also a Board-Certified Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner and believes in providing lifestyle medicine advice to his patients for better long term health gains and better spinal health. He has been consulting since 1998. He consults both privately and on the National Health Service (NHS) and is passionate about making sure patients are in control of their healthcare.
Mr Bajekal is a member of the following institutions:
- British Medical Association (BMA)
- British Association of Spine Surgeons
- British Society of Lifestyle Medicine (BSLM)
- Plant-Based Health Professionals
- Patient Information
- Hospital Practices
- Spire Bushey Hospital
- BMI The Cavell
- BMI The King’s Oak
- Contact
- Blog
- Resources
- Glossary
Additional Links
Mr Bajekal works in conjunction with Total Orthopaedics UK. For more details please click here.
For more detailed information on plant-based nutirition please visit: www.rohinibajekal.com
For more detailed information on women’s health please visit: www.nitubajekal.com