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Spinal Stenosis

 Your Aging Back: Understanding Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

      Do you experience dull, aching or burning pain in your lower back when you walk or stand? Does that pain radiate down into one or both of your thighs? Does that pain go away when you bend forward or lean on a shopping cart?

      Perhaps, like many, you have dismissed your symptoms as the aches and pains of getting older, don't make that mistake. You may be suffering from a common back problem that turns tens of thousands of older Americans into involuntary couch potatoes — that back problem is lumbar spinal stenosis.

      What is Lumbar Spinal Stenosis?

      Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a degenerative condition of the spine that is generally characterized by pain in the lower back which radiates to the buttocks and down to the legs, often causing associated numbness, tingling and weakness when walking. Although rare, in its most advanced form, LSS can cause serious neurological problems, including significant leg weakness and difficulty with bowel and bladder function.

      Lumbar spinal stenosis is a hidden epidemic and its pain will inevitably become more common as our lifespan continues to grow longer and Baby Boomers reach retirement age. The good news is that sufferers can usually be helped with available, proven treatment options.

      Understanding the Condition

      It is estimated that as many as 400,000 Americans, most of them over 60, may currently be experiencing symptoms of LSS – but may not yet have had the condition diagnosed. Many may simply have changed their lifestyles, giving up physical activities to manage their pain on the assumption that their condition is part of getting old. 

      Sufferers generally find relief when they stop walking and sit down, encouraging many to become involuntary "coach potatoes." Bending forward while walking also provides some relief; this is a common posture of those suffering from LSS.

      It is not uncommon for those suffering from LSS to be diagnosed as having hardening of the arteries (vascular disease), arthritis, back strain or other common ailments associated with aging. Because of the nature of the condition, it does not show up on the X-rays often used to screen patients for conditions with similar symptoms such as fractured or slipped vertebrae or tumors involving the spine. Doctors rely on a combination of medical history, physical examination and either magnetic resonance imaging or a computed tomography scan to confirm a diagnosis of LSS.

      Patients play an important role in identifying and getting proper treatment for this condition. If you suffer from back pain when you walk, and if that pain radiates from your lower back to your legs, and if you feel better when you sit down, Lordex Spinal Decompression may be the treatment you’ve been looking for.

      Treatment Options

      Treatment options vary according to the severity of the condition. Ibuprofen (Advil), aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol) and naproxen sodium (Aleve) are often used in the early stages to manage pain. Some patients may get relief with physical therapy and cortisone injections (epidural steroids) around the spinal sac. For more advanced cases, surgery is often the treatment of choice. The most common procedure, known as a decompressive laminectomy, is performed about 60,000 times annually on patients over the age of 60, with improvement reported in 75-80 percent of patients.

      Patients now have an alternative “non surgical” approach called Lordex Spinal Decompression. The American Journal of Pain Management published an article in April 1997 entitled, Emerging Technologies: Preliminary Findings. Decompression, Reduction and Stabilization of the Lumbar Spine: A Cost-Effective treatment for Lumbosacral Pain.  Their finds were remarkable, stating that 86% of patients had a "good" (50-89% improvement) to "excellent" (90-100% improvement) results with non-surgical spinal decompression.

      Knowing more about the anatomy of your spine makes it easier to understand how spinal stenosis develops and how it can lead to various problems. The main parts of the spine include:

        a.. Vertebrae. Your spine is made up of 24 bones stacked on top of one another, plus the sacrum and tailbone (coccyx). Most adults have seven vertebrae in the neck (cervical vertebrae), 12 at the back wall of the chest (thoracic vertebrae) and five vertebrae at the inward curve of the lower back (lumbar vertebrae). The sacrum consists of five fused vertebrae between the hip bones. The tailbone is composed of three to five fused bones at the very end of the spine.
        b.. Ligaments. These tough, elastic bands of tissue help keep the vertebrae in place when you move.
        c.. Intervertebral disks. These elastic pads of cartilage separate the vertebrae. They keep your spine flexible and act as shock absorbers to cushion the vertebrae when you move. Each disk consists of a ring of tough fibrous tissue (annulus fibrosis) surrounding a jelly-like center (nucleus pulposus).
        d.. Facet joints. Located on the sides, top and bottom of each vertebra, these joints connect the vertebrae to one another and stabilize the spine while still allowing flexibility. The joints are coated with a lubricant so that they slide smoothly.
      ·         Spinal cord. This long bundle of nerves extends from the brain stem at the base of your skull to the second lumbar vertebra in your lower back. When the spinal cord ends, another group of nerves (cauda equina) continues down the spinal canal.

      The nerves within the spinal cord (upper motor neurons) carry messages between your brain and the nerves that go to all the parts of your body below your head. Two spinal nerves — one leading to the right side of your body and one to the left side — extend out from the spinal cord between each vertebra. The nerves exit through openings on either side of the vertebrae (intervertebral foramina).

      In all, there are 31 pairs of spinal nerves in your neck and back. Some transmit information from your body to your brain, and others send messages from your brain to your muscles, skin and other organs.

        a.. Spinal canal. The spinal cord passed through this channel in your spine. Normally, the spinal canal is spacious enough to accommodate the spinal cord, but degenerative changes in the spine can narrow the channel.

 

 


 

Herniated Disc

Also called:  Bulging disk, Compressed disk, Herniated intervertebral disk, Herniated nucleus pulposus, Prolapsed disk, Ruptured disk, Slipped disk.

Your backbone, or spine, is made up of 26 bones called vertebrae.  In between them are soft discs filled with a jelly-like substance.  These discs cushion the vertebrae and keep them in place.  A herniated disk is a disc that slips out of place or ruptures.  If it presses on a nerve, it can cause back pain or sciatica.

Symptoms include:

  • Back pain that spreads to the buttocks and legs, when the herniated disk is in your lower back
  • Neck pain that spreads to the shoulders and upper arms, when the herniated disk is in your upper back
  • Tingling or numbness
  • Muscle spasms or weakness

With treatment, most people recover.  It can take a long time.  Treatments include rest, pain and anti-inflammatory medicines, physical therapy and sometimes surgery.  Losing weight can help, too.  Lordex Decompression Therapy has proven to decompress the nucleus pulposis to pressures below 100mmHg.  This creates a tremendous potential diffusion gradient across the disc space, which is otherwise an avascular structure.  Glucose and oxygen enter the disc at the end plate region while sulphate ions needed for the production of new glycosaminoglycans enter from the annulus fibrosis.  Thus therapy may augment nutrient flow into the disc, facilitating structural restoration of the disc and promoting disc rehydration.

 

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Sciatica

Sciatica is a sympton of a problem with the sciatic nerve, a large nerve that runs from the lower back down the back of each leg.  It controls muscles in the back of your knee and lower leg and provides feeling to the back of your thigh, part of your lower leg and the sole of your foot.  When you have sciatica, you have pain, weakness, numbness or tingling.  It can start in the lower back and extend down your leg to your calf, foot, or even your toes.  It's usually on only one side of your body.

Sciatica may be due to a ruptured intervertebral disc, narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on the nerve called spinal stenosis, or an injury such as a pelvic fracture.  In many cases no cause can be found.

Sometimes sciatica goes away on its own.  Treatment, if needed, depends on the cause of the problem.  It may include exercises, medicines, surgery and now Lordex Spinal Decompression Therapy.  This non surgical approach has been proven to reduce and even eliminate pain as well as help in returning patients to functional levels of activity.

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Arthritis

Sports Injuries

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Massage is one of the oldest healing arts:

Chinese records dating back 3,000 years document its use; the ancient Hindus, Persians and Egyptians applied forms of massage for many ailments; and Hippocrates wrote papers recommending the use of rubbing and friction for joint and circulatory problems. Today, the benefits of massage are varied and far-reaching. As an accepted part of many physical rehabilitation programs, massage therapy has also proven beneficial for many chronic conditions, including low back pain, arthritis, bursitis, fatigue, high blood pressure, diabetes, immunity suppression, infertility, smoking cessation, depression, and more. And, as many millions will attest, massage also helps relieve the stress and tension of everyday living that can lead to disease and illness.