Alleviating Back Pain - Artificial Discs

Many of us suffer from back pain. For some of us, we choose to live through the anguish of constant flare-ups, letting back pain become a permanent burden. Others try to find ways to treat lower back pain and relieve some of the pain with special seat cushions and sitting in chairs with special lumbar support.

Up until fairly recently, a popular surgical procedure for treating collapsed or bulged discs was fusion. Spinal fusion surgery entails the fusing of two cervical discs together with bone grafts in order to prevent disc slippage. Usually, the patient must give up a degree of mobility in order to be without back pain. Today, however, there are treatments for bulging or herniated discs that have shown promise in both alleviating pain and allowing patients to live a normal, pain-free life.

Disc replacement is a back pain treatment that can give people a natural range of motion and mobility, while either partially or totally replacing the damaged disc with an artificial one. Artificial discs will provide the patient with the necessary separation between the vertebrae and completely alleviate any pain associated with bulging discs. The patient will be able to bend, turn and twist with virtually no pain associated with the lower back. Furthermore, patients who receive artificial discs can recover and return to work more quickly than patients who receive spinal fusion surgery.

A spine surgeon in Chennai can replace a person's damaged discs by a fairly straightforward surgical procedure. The spinal surgeon must have access to the front of the spinal column, so an incision is made in the patient's abdomen. After separating the internal organs and gaining access to the front of the spine, the surgeon will remove the damaged disc material. The new disc, which is made out of either a plastic or polyethylene material between two metal plates, is placed into the spinal column in place of the removed disc and anchored to the vertebrae. The spine surgeon closes the incision and the recovery process begins.

Artificial disc replacement surgery is fairly new in the United States, but it is not unlike knee replacement or hip replacement surgery. The lifespan of the artificial discs could be 15 to 20 years, depending on the amount of strain a person puts on them. With regular x-ray follow-ups, the patient should be free of lower back pain for several years. Physical therapy should also be done in the weeks immediately following artificial disc replacement surgery.

Pain management exercise and a healthy diet should ease the burden on a patient's back after surgery. The stomach muscles need to be strengthened in order to ease the burden on the spine. Carrying excess weight will cause unnecessary strain on the back and could eventually re-damage the area.

Consult a spine surgeon to see if artificial disc replacement is a viable option to treat and relieve your lower back pain.

Backpain And ESI (Epidural Steroid Injection)

Backpain and ESI are related to each other in that the latter is very often used to find out the true cause of the former. Back ache is a common phenomenon and is generally a result of a strain or injury to the muscles and ligaments supporting the human spine. An Epidural Steroid Injection or ESI is the most common type of injection given to patients suffering from back and neck pain. The pain in the back can be constant or intermittent and its intensity may vary from a dull ache to a searing feeling.

In a large number of cases, back pain vanishes or can be cured within a few weeks. However, in cases of chronic pain, medical advice is necessary. Patients having difficulty in passing urine or experiencing numbness in the back or genital area or weakness and pain in the legs or feeling unsteady while standing should see a physician immediately. Spinal injections are often used to find out the true cause of the back pain and than to actually treat the pain. Injections which provide temporary relief are called therapeutic injections. In other cases spinal injections are used to diagnose the cause of the back pain. ESI is generally injection used to treat back pain.

The space between the covering of the spinal cord and the inside of the bony spinal canal is called the epidural space. An injection in this area ensures that the medication moves across the whole of the spine and covers all the nerve routs and joints to relieve the back pain. ESIs are generally very effective in the treatment and the true diagnosis of the back pain.

In most of the cases where spinal injections are used, a local anesthetic called lidocaine is used. Lidocaine is a fast acting drug and its effects wear off in a couple of hours. So it is generally used as a diagnostic tool. Bupivacaine, another anesthetic is used to provide some relief from the back pain. Another commonly used injection is Cortisone. Cortisone is commonly injected with a local anesthetic to reduce inflammation in the affected areas of the patient suffering from severe back pain.

An epidural steroid injection or ESI can be injected in three different ways. In the first case a caudal block is placed through the sacral gap which is the space below our lumbar spine. Than the injection is placed into the epidural space. This type of block reduces the chances of puncturing the dura.

The most common method of giving an ESI to reduce back pain is the translumbar approach. Under this method the needle is placed between vertebrae from the back. The third method is generally used for diagnostic purposes. The transforaminal approach involves injection of the medication around a specific nerve root to find out the exact problem area. The foraminae are small openings between your vertebrae through which the nerve roots exit the spinal canal and enter the body.

Spinal injections should not be used in the case of patients taking a platelet-inhibiting drug, such as aspirin or NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) by best neurosurgeon in Chennai.

Consequences of Having a Poor Sitting Posture

 Good posture is essential for overall well-bring. Prolonged sitting with poor posture will lead to negative effects such as back pain, muscle strain and improper alignment. Prolong sitting will cause the body to get into a slouchy position which seems to be more comfortable, but there are consequences in the long run. Being in a poor sitting posture for a long period of time will increase pressure on the intervertebral discs, increasing the chances of suffering a back injury told by one of the reputed spine surgeons in Chennai.

Weak stomach muscles

Our stomach muscles are one of the core body muscles and they are important to help maintain proper posture of the body. The stomach muscles work hand in hand with our back muscles to support and hold the body in the proper alignment. Poor sitting posture will lead to us having weak stomach muscles and this will lead to cause improper alignment of the back and ultimately weakening the lumbar spine muscles, causing back pain.

Poor blood circulation

Poor sitting posture will lead to a lack of proper blood circulation around the body, causing degeneration of the intervertebral discs and eventually causing back pain.

Neck pain

Poor posture is responsible for more than 80% of neck pain as it will cause misalignment of the back, head and shoulders, causing tremendous strain on the ligaments and muscles, causing neck pain.

Spine curvature

Poor posture can cause the curving of the spine, adding pressure on the spine and reducing the ability of the spine to absorb shock. This will lead to a higher chance of injury. In the long term, it will also lead to neck pain, headache and lower back pain.

Headache

Poor posture leads to muscle tension, reducing blood flow throughout the body. A decrease in blood flow can possibly lead to fatigue and headache. A proper posture instead will help increase the flow of blood throughout the entire body.

Inefficient breathing

Our body is designed in a way that the entire skeletal system and muscles are in a proper alignment and that helps to ensure every single component of our body is placed correctly for optimal health. A poor posture disrupts that and that will decrease the capacity of the lungs to take in oxygen and causing inefficient breathing.

Joint and muscle disorder

One of the causes of joint and muscle disorder is poor posture. Poor posture can cause pain in our face as well as earache.

Poor posture will add unwanted stress and pressure onto our body, causing pain, muscular disorders and spine problems. It doesn't hurt for us to sit in a proper posture and a good posture will increase our productiveness and our overall well-being.