Spine deformity refers to an abnormality of the shape, alignment, or formation of the vertebral column. The spine in the human body is composed of small bones or vertebrae, stacked on top of another. A healthy spine, typically, has gentle curvatures. A displacement or exaggeration of the spine leads to deformities.

Types of spine deformities:

The three major forms of spine curvature deformity are-

  Lordosis - Causes the lower back to turn inward
  Kyphosis - Leads to forward rounding of the back
  Scoliosis - Causes the spine to curve sideways

What are the causes of spine deformity?

The following conditions may cause the spine to be misaligned-

  Achondroplasia - A disorder, which impedes the normal growth of the bones, thereby resulting in short stature or dwarfism
  Spondylolisthesis - When the vertebrae in the lower back slip forward
  Osteoporosis - When the vertebrae become fragile and prone to fractures
  Scheuermann s disease - A developmental disorder of the spine that leads to abnormal growth of the upper back
  Spina bifida - A congenital disorder where the spinal column does not close completely while inside the womb

Symptoms associated with deformed spine:

Signs and symptoms of a deformed spine include-

  Uneven/misalignment of the shoulder and hips
  Uneven shoulder blades (one side is slightly higher than the other)
  Slight bending of the head over the body
  Difficulty in movement
  Discomfort and back pain

How is the condition treated?

The treatment of the condition depends on the severity of your spine deformity. Anti-inflammatory medications and drugs are prescribed to manage pain and discomfort associated with spine deformity/curvature. However, these cannot correct the deformity completely.

Severe cases of spine deformity need another line of treatment.

  Bracing - Back braces are recommended for children and adults alike, depending on the degree of curvature. This can help prevent the condition of your back from worsening.
  Body casting - The doctor places a cast that starts from the shoulders and goes all the way down to the lower trunk. This provides adequate support to the spine and strengthens the back.
  Spinal instrumentation - The surgeon will attach instruments like rods, hooks, and wires to the spine to keep the bones aligned following a spinal fusion.
  Artificial disc replacement - The surgeon replaces degenerated discs in the spine with artificial devices.
  Kyphoplasty - The surgeon inserts a balloon into the spine to stabilize and realign the deformed spine and relieve you from the pain.

Following the treatment, patients with spine deformity are usually advised to go for physiotherapy sessions. Physical therapy and exercise can help you build muscle strength and increase flexibility.

Deformity of the spine is a difficult condition to live with. Not only does it restricts your normal movement but also places you at risk of other musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, it is imperative that you get the condition treated by a specialist.

Spine Deformity - Everything You Should Know!

Sarcopenia refers to the loss of muscle mass caused by the natural process of ageing. Over time, the loss of muscle mass may reduce a person s strength and affect his or her balance and the ability to walk. Sarcopenia can make it difficult for one to carry on with their routine activities, such as walking, lifting objects, or climbing stairs.

The reduction in muscle mass involves both a decrease in their size and the loss of muscle fibres. Sarcopenia becomes noticeable by age 40   and the loss of muscle tissues progress more rapidly by the time you reach the 60s or 70s. Doctors believe that certain hormonal changes due to ageing are the main reason for this condition. 

Apart from that, poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle also contribute to muscle loss. Health experts and doctors suggest that following a proper, nutritious diet can help treat or delay sarcopenia.

Diet recommended for sarcopenia patients 

If you are diagnosed with sarcopenia, your dietician or healthcare provider will likely recommend a diet that has an abundance of proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins to prevent further muscle loss and boost their growth.

Here is a close look at the nutrients  

Proteins

The protein in your diet signals the muscle tissues to strengthen and build. As your muscles become more resistant to this signal with age, it is important that you consume more protein to increase muscle growth. A study found that people over age 70, who consumed a wholesome meal containing 35gms of protein, saw significant growth in the muscle mass. Leucine, an amino acid, is especially essential for regulating muscle growth. Some of the best sources of leucine include meat, eggs, fish, soy, and whey protein. 

Research has shown that the optimal intake of dietary protein should be somewhere between 0.6-0.9g/pound/d of protein in older adults with chronic or acute diseases. Besides eating more protein with meals, health experts recommend adding other protein-rich foods to their daily diet, including peanuts, almonds, edamame, and chickpeas. 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for maintaining and building healthy bones. This is because the main component responsible for bone health, calcium can be absorbed only when your body has sufficient vitamin D. Milk, soymilk, cheese and other dairy products, egg yolks, and fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel are some of the foods offering sufficient amounts of vital vitamin D. While natural food sources are the best way to get your daily dose of vitamin D, you can also opt for supplements to increase muscle endurance and lower the risk of falling. However, be sure to discuss with your doctor before taking vitamin supplements. 

Omega-3 fatty acids

Fish oil extracted from fatty fish contains high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, DHA, and EPA. Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, fish oil is known to boost muscle sensitivity to resistance training and protein, allowing for growth in strength, size, and muscle mass as you age. A study conducted over 16 weeks revealed taking omega-3 supplements regularly witnessed a significant increase in muscle growth. 

Sarcopenia becomes more apparent with age and may affect your quality of life. Eating high-quality protein and enough calories can delay the rate of muscle loss. Consult a dietician and ask for a diet plan comprising these nutrients to improve muscle strength and deter sarcopenia.

What Type Of Diet Should Be Taken In Sarcopenia?

Knee pain is something that can affect anyone - irrespective of their age. While sometimes it may be of minor importance - and can easily be handled by self-care, often, lingering pain is a manifestation of some other serious underlying problem, such as arthritis. In this case, it is imperative that you consult a doctor and take appropriate measures to combat it.

Causes :

Arthritis: The chief cause of lingering knee pain, arthritis itself can be of a number of types:
 Osteoarthritis, which is a result of deterioration of cartilages due to wear and tear
 Rheumatoid Arthritis, an inflammatory chronic disorder
 Septic Arthritis, causing pain, swelling and redness.
 Gout caused due to the development of uric acid crystals in the joints
Fractures: These are caused by the breaking up of the kneecap due to falls or collisions.
ACL Injuries: Caused due to the tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament (that connects the femur and the shinbone). Especially common in sportspersons such as footballers or basketball players.
Meniscus tears: The meniscus or the rubber-like cartilage (that acts as a shock absorber) can be torn by sudden jerks or excess pressure.

Symptoms:The major symptoms of knee pain include weakness, redness, instability, stiffness or the inability to properly straighten or move the leg. Often, a deformity is also visible, such as a bone sticking out of the leg - in which case it is advisable to consult a doctor immediately.

Possible risks :Factors which include the odds of being inflicted by knee pain and cause serious complications include :
Being overweight: This exponentially increases the stress or pressure that is applied on the knee joints - even in doing mundane tasks like walking up and down stairs.
Excessive physical activity: Some activities, such as sports apply excess stress on the knees as compared to other tasks.
Loss of muscle flexibility: Tightness or weakness in muscles causes increasing number of problems in the knees.

All About Knee Pain


A fracture separates a single solid object into two or more pieces due to pressure. In medical terms, a fracture refers to a broken bone due to some kind of external trauma. A crack in the bone, on the other hand, it does not cause a clean break in the bone, there is only a separation or discontinuity in the bone material.

A crack in the bone caused due to repeated stress is often called as 'hairline fracture'. Here are the basic differences between a crack and a fracture in the bone and how to treat them:

1. A crack or hairline fracture is rarely caused by a single injury. It is usually the result of bone fatigue, which may be caused due to repeated, concentrated stress over a long period of time and thus, it is also called as 'stress fracture'. Other bone fractures are almost always the result of sudden and severe force on the bones.

2. The skeletal system constantly remodels itself. The cells, known as 'osteoblasts' absorb calcium and secrete bone connective tissue. If a particular site is exposed to recurrent bouts of force (which are individually not impactful enough to cause a crack), over time the osteoblasts in that region malfunction and the crack appears.

Muscular exhaustion can also cause cracks in the bone. Fractures are caused due to sudden external single force trauma to the bone. Nutritional problems like deficiencies of Calcium, Phosphorus, vitamin D and excessive smoking decrease the bone mineral density and increase the chance of both cracks and fractures.

3. Symptoms of a crack are swelling, tenderness and sharp pain in the injured region and the symptoms worsen over time. A fracture has similar symptoms and might also exhibit an external physical distortion and makes it impossible to move that part of the body that where the bone is broken.

4. An MRI is often suggested for detecting the crack or crack-prone areas because an X-ray can only detect the crack after it widens somewhat or the bone starts paining because the rays cannot pass through the tiny gap in bone material. A fracture is easily detectable by an X-ray because the rays pass right through the break.

5. Complete rest for six to eight weeks is the most effective way of healing a crack. Using a walking boot in case of cracks in the leg bones in also helpful. Healing fractures require extensive medical intervention. Surgical techniques like bone grafting and the insertion of metal plates are used to reposition the broken bone.

Cracks VS Fractures

The pain which a person experiences as a result of having a herniated disc can be quite debilitating, to tell you the truth. However, taking into due account the fact that all a person in such a situation would want would be to be up and running as soon as possible.

In order for this to happen, as would be expected, he or she would need to go through the options which are available for treatment of a herniated disc. There are various types of herniated disc treatments which are available though it can be said that conservative treatments are preferred as these treatments do not require surgery to be carried out on the person who is suffering from the issue.

The course of this sort of treatment lasts somewhere between one month to one and a half months. The aim of conservative treatment is to reduce or minimise the pain that is automatically associated with a herniated disc. There is a strategy to help a person improve by which he or she is provided with medicine for the purpose of pain relief while physiotherapy is made use of to make the underlying condition better.

Surgical treatment may be required, if the case is such that the person has lost a great degree of function and is in pain that seems to be pretty much unbearable. `If the person has a lumbar herniated disc, then the conservative treatment for this sort of case would require him or her to apply ice and heat from a warm source to provide relief to the area. If the pain is very bad yet the person is determined not to undergo surgery then the answer would be to consume some oral steroids or narcotic pain medications. One should surely keep in mind that this is only to carried out as per the prescription of a doctor who is trained and experienced to a sufficient degree.

If surgery is required for this sort of herniated disc, then it is likely to be a lumbar decompression surgery which aims to allow for the growth of the spine back to health as a result of removing the herniated disc. When it comes to cervical herniated disc treatment, conservative solutions include using drugs like ibuprofen and physical therapy; similar to solving lumbar herniated discs. However, surgical treatment for cervical herniated discs warrants anterior cervical decompression; where the disc is removed from the front of the neck.

 What Therapy Is Best For Herniated Disc?

Arthritis is a very painful disease. It restricts you from doing a lot of the activities you would love to engage in. However, there are steps you could take to reduce the chances of it happening to you. Here are some tips, which help you in preventing Arthritis:
1. Take Omega-3 fatty acids
Research proves that the regular consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids, present in fish, result in decreased risks of rheumatoid arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in foods such as olive oil and walnuts.

2. Take Vitamins and olive oil
Vitamins are crucial, especially A, C and D. Vitamin A can be found in carrots. vitamin D can yet again be found in fish while vitamin C can be found in strawberries, mangoes, pineapples and oranges. Olive oil is also useful because it contains polyphenols which reduce the chances of developing arthritis.

3. Eat ginger and broccoli
Ginger and broccoli are two of the most therapeutic foods for various reasons and the chances of getting arthritis are also proven to reduce due to these foods.

4. Avoid injury
Although this is very hard to do sometimes, avoiding injuries do reduce your chances of getting arthritis.

5. Control your weight
This is very important, especially for your knees. It has been proven by researchers at John Hopkins University that if you are 10 kg overweight, then 30 to 60 extra kilograms of weight fall on your knees.

6. Exercise
Strengthening your muscles around your joint decreases the pressure on the joint. If there is less pressure on the joint, then the chances of arthritis are reduced. The best way to decrease pressure on the joint and strengthen your muscles is to exercise.

6 Tips To Prevent Arthritis

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