Disc prolapse   or what is popularly known as a herniated disc   occurs when the soft, rubbery tissues of the spinal discs push through a crack in the tougher exterior casing. It usually results from wear and tear of the spinal discs over time.

Risk Factors-
The following factors may put you at risk of a disc prolapse  
  Genetics   You may have a tendency towards developing a disc prolapse
  Occupation   People who are engaged in physically demanding jobs are more likely to develop back pain
  Weight   Excessive body weight puts pressure on the discs in the lower back

Signs to Watch Out for-
Signs and symptoms of disc prolapsed may include the following  
  Pain in the legs, particularly in the calf, thigh, and buttocks
  Pain in the arms and shoulder that intensify when you sneeze, cough, or even move your spine into certain positions
  Tingling or numbness in the affected areas
  Muscle weakness
  Inability to hold an object

If the pain deteriorates i.e. if the pain shoots down from your back or neck to the extremities, consult a doctor immediately.

Acupuncture for Disc Prolapse-
Although there are certain non-surgical and surgical treatment methods, many healthcare professionals and doctors nowadays recommend acupuncture as an alternative cure.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese practice that believes that people possess  Chi  or an energy force. When the force is unbalanced or blocked, your body becomes susceptible to illness and pain. Traditional acupuncturists strive to free up these energy channels (known as meridians) by inserting needles into specific points in your body. It activates the release of endorphins in your blood, which acts as natural pain relievers and reduces pain.
The process involves inserting multiple needles, depending on your diagnosis. Most people do not feel pain when the needles are inserted. In fact, they feel relaxed or energized. The acupuncturist will leave the needles in for about 20-40 minutes   this may cause temporary soreness but do not pose serious complications.
Acupuncture can help relieve pain associated with bulging, herniated disc. If you are considering this option, you should visit a complementary and alternative medicine practitioner.

Disc Prolapse - Know How Acupunture Can Help!

Even though we have 206 bones in our bodies, breaking just one is enough to bring our daily lives to a standstill. A partial or complete break in a bone is termed as a fracture. While minor fractures can heal in as little as 6 weeks major fractures can take 3-4 months to heal properly. In cases of complex fractures, you may need physical therapy even after this time period to get back complete mobility. Hence patience is essential when a fracture is healing, but here are a few tips on how to speed up the process.

Increase your protein intake: Proteins are essential for the healing and repairing of damage to bones and tissues. Proteins also give the bone structure its strength, Hence, depriving the body of adequate protein will result in the formation of soft bones rather than hard, strong bones. This prevents a bone from fracturing in the same place again.
Have a diet rich in antioxidants: Inflammation is one of the first symptoms of a fracture. This inflammation can continue for many days after the incident and until the inflammation reduces, healing cannot take place properly. Antioxidants help rid toxins from the body and help reduce inflammation thereby initiating the healing process. Antioxidants can also help relieve pain.
Exercise: While you must take care not to apply too much pressure on the affected area it is essential to move the limb as much as possible. Being active promotes blood flow and in this way speeds up the healing process.
Avoid alcohol and caffeine: In most cases, a doctor will prescribe pain relievers to deal with the pain of a fracture. Under no circumstances should you consume alcohol when taking these medications. Even after the antibiotic course is over it is a good idea to abstain from alcohol as this can increase inflammation. Similarly, caffeine and all caffeinated products should also be avoided as they contain compounds that can prevent calcium from being absorbed.
Have an alkaline diet: Having an alkaline diet with lots of fruits and vegetables helps stabilise the pH levels of the body and conserves minerals and proteins needed to build strong bones. In this way, it creates the optimal environment for healing. An alkaline diet also increases the production of growth hormones and other growth factors like IGF insulin in the body. These are crucial to speeding up the healing process and aid in new bone formation.

5 Ways For Quick Recovery From Fracture

If you have been facing back problems in the form of pain and discomfort for a long time despite undergoing treatment and medications, then you must be wondering whether you should go for a spine surgery. With the advancement in technology in the field of medical surgery, spine surgery has gained popularity owing to its effectiveness and high success rate. However, there are plenty of misconceptions regarding spine surgery, which need to be busted so that people do not make decisions based on these false beliefs.

Here are five myths about spine surgery debunked-

  Myth: Surgery is a must if you have damaged discs.
Fact: Many people live with a herniated disc. It is a fairly common spinal condition. The common belief is that you need to undergo a surgery to fix the problem. However, it is not true. In fact, many people have found relief from back pain following non-surgical methods such as physiotherapy and low-key exercises. These are the initial course of the treatment and usually, the patient sees positive results after the completion of the course.

  Myth: Surgery can relieve you from back pain completely.
Fact: Spine surgery is meant to correct spinal problems by restoring the functioning of your spine and reducing back pain. However, a surgery cannot relieve you from the pain completely. In other words, it cannot fix the problem entirely. There are certain parameters, which you need to correct on your own. These include maintaining a healthy body weight, living a healthy and active life, eating a balanced diet etc. Nevertheless, if the spine problem/injury is diagnosed early, the chances of a successful spine surgery increase.

  Myth: Spine surgery has serious repercussions, and it is not worth a try.
Fact: Like all other types of surgery, spine surgery too has a few risks or side effects associated with it. The most common types include blood clots, infection, weakness, and bleeding. However, these are not as serious as it sounds like. Since most of the surgeries are minimally invasive today, the minor side effects do not last more than a week and recovery takes place sooner. The side effects can also be managed with pain management medications well so the patient need not worry.

  Myth: Visiting a spine surgeon means you will definitely need a surgery.
Fact: Your orthopaedic may advise you to see a spine surgeon if the symptoms of your spine injury/problem become severe. This does not necessarily mean you will have to undergo a surgery. Sometimes, the doctor may schedule an appointment with the surgeon to have a unique perspective of the condition. Surgery is prescribed only as the last resort.

  Myth: Undergoing a surgery once means you will need another one soon.
Fact: If you have gone under the knife once, it does not necessarily mean you will need another surgery soon. Multiple surgical procedures are required only if the patient has sustained complex trauma to the spine. Such cases are rare. Usually, the patient undergoes spine surgery once, following which he/she is provided with a post-operative guideline. The guideline suggests engaging in mild exercises and making vital lifestyle changes to ensure fast recovery.

If you have been suffering from persistent, recurring pain in the back or neck that has altered or affected your quality of life in a negative way, its time you should consult a doctor. Do not hesitate if you need to undergo e a spine surgery urgently. The facts stated above will help clear your mind and eliminate any false belief that you had been holding in.

Spine Surgery - Busting The Myths Around It!

Fractures are simply a break in a bone. They can be caused due to injury, (traumatic fractures) or a pre-existing condition like osteoporosis that causes weakening of bones (pathologic fractures). There are many ways to classify fractures. All fractures fall into the major categories of simple and compound fractures. Simple fractures are fractures where bones remain inside the skin and don t jut out. They are also called closed fractures.

Compound fractures, also called open fractures, are broken bones that penetrate through the skin. These types expose the bone and deep tissues to the environment. Compound fractures are more serious of the two. The healing here may be affected due to deep infections for which antibiotics need to be used. There are many different sub types of fractures and we re only going to skim through them here.

Comminuted fractures: Severe fractures in which a bone breaks into several smaller pieces.
Avulsion fractures: A small piece of bone is completely torn off from the main bone due to fierce pulling off a part of the body.
Other types of fractures are characterised by the many different angles the bone breaks into like transverse, oblique and spiral fractures.

Diagnosis
When a bone is broken there are symptoms like swelling that doesn t subside on its own and pain. In such a case it s imperative that one goes to a doctor for a diagnosis. Doctors can usually recognise most fractures by examining the injury and taking an X-ray. The X-ray also provides a clear idea about the type of fracture and the degree of displacement of the bone. And, it s important that the patient doesn t wait too long before approaching a doctor. This is because bones begin to heal very quickly after a fracture and the bone tissue will heal using any tissue available. This can lead to a misalignment of broken pieces of bone and cause disability and loss of function.

There are cases when X-ray may not show a fracture. This is especially common in fractures in the hip and wrist in older people. For diagnosing these, doctors will get some other tests done such as a computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or a bone scan.

Treatments
Fractures have to be treated by doctors. The doctors set the fractured bones in their proper place and hold them there so that they can heal. Setting a bone is called "reduction." Reduction without surgery is called "closed reduction." But if the fracture is serious, it s going to require surgery with bone repositioning, called open reduction.

In extreme cases, pins, plates, screws, rods, or glue are used to hold the fractured bones in place, inside the body. Once the bone abutment has been treated, the bone is immobilised to allow the broken pieces to heal. In most cases, the fractured part is set in a rigid cast. The fractured ends of the bone can be fixed into place using metal pins connected to an external frame. This is removed after the bone has healed.

Fractures - How To Diagnose Them?

At some point in life most people experience acute pain in their lower back which is extremely painful. Pain in the spine causes a lot of discomfort and disruption in the life of an individual and hence, it is always better to get it checked on time. There are patients who even wonder when they should consult a neurosurgeon or a spine surgeon for their back pain. It is advisable that a physical examination is done by a primary care physician for low back pain before consulting a spine surgeon.

Why consult a Physical care Physician First?
The main reason to consult a primary care physician at first is that he would prescribe medications for severe lower back pain. The medications could include non-narcotic pain medications such as Ultram or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Motrin. The physician can even refer you to a chiropractor or for physical therapy to get relief from the back pain. Mechanical means are made use of by a chiropractor mainly to alleviate the back pain of the patient.

If the patient feels better with the physical therapy or the medications prescribed by the family doctor and is able to resume normal activities, then there is no need to see a spine surgeon. It is often recommended to take good care of the back and to exercise. A combination of ergonomics, regular stretching and improved everyday posture is beneficial as it reduces the chance of causing pain in the lower back. Exercise plays a very important role and it provides the possibility of reducing the pain.

Conservative Care for Treating Lower back Pain
It is best for patients to consult a conservative care specialist if after consulting a chiropractor they do not find any reduction in their pain and they do not want to undergo spine surgery. The conservative care specialists are well-trained in rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders and specialize in spine care. The role of the conservative care specialist is similar to a cardiologist who specializes in treating neurological disorders.

The specialist for spine care works along with the surgeon in a spine center to treat the lower back pain. The specialist is trained in diagnostic techniques and is capable of making use of a combination of diagnostic tests as well as injection techniques such as epidural steroid injections to diagnose the source of the lower back pain in a patient. They can even advise patients whether it is appropriate to consult a spine surgeon for surgery. Surgery is done to correct the anatomical conditions and it is performed only when non-surgical treatments are not successful in alleviating the pain of the patient.

When Is The Right Time To See A Spine Surgeon?

Spinal fusion is a surgery in which two or more vertebrae in the vertebral column or back are fused or joined to treat a slew of spinal problems and diseases, which cause debilitating back pain. This surgery helps to remove bone and tissue that are narrowing the spinal canal, squeezing the spinal cord and nerves, reducing pain and improving function.

There are many different causes of back pain like injury, poor posture, age, osteoarthritis, herniation of disc between two vertebrae, degenerative disc disease, narrowing of spine called stenosis, and spondylosis or lessening of space between the vertebrae- most of these can be treated using spinal fusion.

All of these causes put tremendous pressure on the vertebrae and pinch spinal nerves that pass through the back and radiate out into the arms, legs and torso. Apart from the pain, patients experience nerve and muscle weakness and irreversible damage affecting normal life.

Spinal fusion started off as just a treatment for fractures but now it has become the surgery of choice for a number of spine problems. Though it can be done anywhere in the spine, it is very effective when done in the lower part of the spine called lumbar spinal fusion or arthrodesis.

Spinal fusion is done by forming a direct bony connection between the vertebrae surrounding the painful discs, the cushioning between the vertebrae. Pain is stopped by stopping the motion of the painful discs.

There are different methods of spinal fusion each with its own advantages and limitations.

Techniques include fusion approached from the front, the back, or both of the vertebral column. Sometimes surgeons decide to use intervertebral cages or metal screws to provide internal structural support while the bone fuses. These cages may be placed between the vertebrae and packed with bone graft material taken from the patient or constructed out of synthetic materials.

What to expect?
Spinal fusion is not a risk-free procedure. It is a major surgery lasting several hours and carrying a number of risks like-

Failure of the vertebral fusion and breaking of metal implants
The vertebrae above and below the fusion can wear away aggravating problems
Blood clots may be formed that can travel to lungs causing embolism
Injury to spinal nerves causing permanent weakness in legs and problem with bladder and bowel function
Infections and blood loss
Heart attack or stroke during surgery
The patient has to be kept in hospital for a couple of days for post-operative care after which he will have to undergo rehabilitation for months. Hence, one should really think before going for spinal fusion. And when it is recommended, seek a second opinion before making a decision. 

Spinal Fusion Surgery - What To Expect?

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