Well, sample size of 1 but a family member was in debilitating pain all the time until they had a couple vertebrae fused. They can walk and life is mostly normal for them now.

I am one of those people. Obviously the example says nothing about the norm. The article was behind a pay wall so I didn't read it. But the title is about an insanely broad set of surgeries. Bet there is a lot of nuance within.