Spinal Treatment

A bulging, or herniated, disk occurs when the spongy center of a disk in the spine pushes out through a tear in the outer, rubbery portion of the disk. It can press on the spinal cord and nerve roots, leading to pain and problems with mobility. Bulging disks are usually due to age-related degeneration, while symptoms progress gradually. People also call them herniated, ruptured, or protruding disks.

Symptoms

• Arm or leg pain that shoots through your arms or legs in a sharp or burning sensation 
• Numbness or tingling radiating throughout your body
• Weakness that leads you to stumble, or affect your ability to lift or hold items

Spinal Stenosis: The bones of the spine create a channel for the spinal cord and nerve roots. Spinal stenosis is narrowing this channel, most commonly due to degenerative spinal disease associated with aging. In some cases, a person can be born with spinal stenosis.

Symptoms

• Pain in the back
• Burning pain going into the buttocks and down into the legs (sciatica)
• Numbness, tingling, cramping, or weakness in the legs
• Loss of sensation in the feet
• A weakness in a foot that causes the foot to slap down when walking ("foot drop")
• Loss of sexual ability

Pressure on nerves in the lumbar region can also cause more serious symptoms known as cauda equine syndrome. If you have any of these symptoms, you need to get medical attention right away:

• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Severe or increasing numbness between your legs, inner thighs, and back of the legs
• Severe pain and weakness that spreads into one or both legs. This makes it hard to walk or get out of a chair

Sciatica, also called lumbar radiculopathy, is a pain that originates along your sciatic nerve. This nerve extends from the back of your pelvis down the back of your thigh. Your sciatic nerve is the main nerve in your leg. It is also the largest nerve in your entire body.

Symptoms

• Lower back pain that radiates or spreads down your buttock and the back of one thigh
• Pain that extends from your buttock down to your foot
• Numbness (in severe cases)
• Weakness (in severe cases)

Radiculopathy: Your spine is made of many bones called vertebrae, and your spinal cord runs through a canal in the center of these bones. Nerve roots split from the cord and travel between the vertebrae into various areas of your body. When these nerve roots become pinched or damaged, the resulting symptoms are called radiculopathy.

Symptoms

• Sharp pain in the back, arms, legs or shoulders that may worsen with certain activities, even something as simple as coughing or sneezing
• Weakness or loss of reflexes in the arms or legs

Numbness of the skin, “pins and needles,” or other abnormal sensations (paresthesia) in the arms or legs

Spinal Instability, also sometimes called lumbar instability, is defined as the inability of the spinal column to maintain its normal configuration under normal usage conditions. A healthy spine provides structure, protection and support for the body and its internal organs. An unstable spinal cord can no longer hold together the spinal ligaments, muscles, discs and bones, in such a way as to provide these essential functions. In other words, an unstable spine means that the integrity of the spinal column has been compromised.

Symptoms

• Severe pain in the back when lifting objects, bending and straightening the spine
• Muscle spasms
• Numbness in the arms and lower extremities
• Pain radiating down the legs and buttocks, especially if it affects one side of the body more than the other

Degenerative Disc Disease: One of the more unfortunate aspects of getting older is that your joints begin to wear out, oftentimes for no good reason. This wear and tear of the joints is not only common in the knees and the hips but also in the spine. The exact reason why the joints of the spine begin to wear out is not known and may be a combination of factors, such as doing a lot of lifting, having a family history of spine problems or having an injury to the spine. This wear and tear is a form of arthritis, which is where the cartilage in the spine joints begins to wear out. Regardless of the cause, it is well known that arthritis of the spine often increases with increasing maturity for no reason that can be identified.

Symptoms

• Comes and goes, lasting for weeks or months at a time.
• Leads to numbness or tingling in your arms or legs.
• Radiates down your buttocks and lower back.
• Worsens with sitting, bending or lifting.

Scoliosis: The spine is made up of a stack of rectangular-shaped building blocks called vertebrae. When viewed from behind, the spine normally appears straight. However, a spine affected by scoliosis is curved — often appearing like an S or C — with a rotation of the vertebrae. This curvature gives the appearance that the person is leaning to one side.

Symptoms

• Difference in shoulder height
• The head isn't centered with the rest of the body
• Difference in hip height or position
• Difference in shoulder blade height or position
• When standing straight, difference in the way the arms hang beside the body
• When bending forward, the sides of the back appear different in height
• Prominence or asymmetry in the ribs seen from the front or back

The symptoms of scoliosis may resemble other spinal conditions or deformities, or may be a result of an injury or infection. Always consult your doctor for a diagnosis.

Symptoms that are not commonly associated with idiopathic scoliosis are back pain, leg pain, and changes in bowel and bladder habits. If a person is experiencing these types of symptoms, he or she requires immediate further medical evaluation by a doctor to determine the cause of the symptoms.