THE EMERGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL DISC REPLACEMENT More than 80% of Americans will experience significant back pain at least once in their lives. The personal and monetary impact can be staggering. A major cause of back pain is the degeneration of the shock absorbers, discs that are positioned in between the bony vertebral bodies of the spine. disc degeneration can be painful and often difficult to treat long term. A promising surgical option recently …

As a part of normal aging, the spine can develop arthritis. The discs lose their water content and begin to collapse, bone spurs form, and the ligaments around the joints of the spine begin to thicken. After age 50, these slowly growing bone spurs and thickened ligaments may begin to narrow the spinal canal and compress nerves. The result is slowly worsening pain into the buttocks, hips, thighs, and legs. Walking and standing are often worse than…

What do Steve Nash, Randy Johnson, Robin Lopez, and 80% of Americans have in common? They have all experienced back pain. Nash's back has bothered him for years, yet he has been named NBA Most Valuable Player multiple times. Randy Johnson had to actually undergo back surgery, yet he still found a way to win 198 more games, four Cy Young awards, and a World Series. Robin Lopez continues to play for the Phoenix Suns. It's obvious that sports are an…

We all know that the more miles you put on your car, the more likely it is to begin having wear and tear problems. Our spines work in the same way. Like a car, the spine has important relationships among its moving parts. The car can be traded for a new one but we must take care of our spine as best we can for many years. Spinal stenosis, often an end stage of the spine degenerative process, is characterized by leg pain with walking. Pain will go…

There are many types of spinal conditions. To effectively treat a spinal condition, obtaining a correct diagnosis is first. Once your spinal diagnosis is determined, you can read more about it and better understand the options for treatment. If you have questions about your spinal condition of a general nature, feel free to ask us. You may also find additional help by visiting these spine-related websites: spineuniverse.com back.com iscoliosis.co…

IT'S A PAIN IN THE NECK Your neck carries the weight of the world. Not really, but it does carry the weight of a bowling ball. Hunching your shoulders or slumping at your desk makes its job more difficult. When your mother told you to stand or sit up straight, she was right. Good posture can make a huge difference over the years and reduce the stresses to your neck. If mom's advice is not heeded, you pay the price over the years as its vulnerabil…

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO PREVENT FRACTURES About 29 million Americans, 80 percent of them women, suffer from osteoporosis or low bone mass, which literally means "porous bones." Most of these people, unfortunately, remain undiagnosed and untreated. The good news? Over the past ten years, medical research has given us prevention strategies, improved diagnostic techniques and new treatments to help us deal with this often debilitating condition. Th…

During our seminars, I am often approached with questions. I am commonly asked about "Osteo". I ask, "Osteo-what?" As many of you know, there is osteoarthritis, osteopenia, osteoporosis, and others. Frequently people speak of their condition and merge these problems together as they seek answers to their personal concerns. Each condition is very different and requires different treatments. Some of these conditions can be painful; some are not and…

What Is It? When the disc wall becomes disrupted either from injury or as a consequence of ageing, disc material can escape from its usual space between the vertebrae and enter the spinal canal. If a large amount of disc is herniated into the spinal canal, it can pinch nerve roots and cause buttock and leg pain. The disc material can also cause inflammation of adjacent nerve roots. Typically, the pain (sciatica) radiates through the buttocks, bac…

Often people go to the doctor seeking help for hip pain. Sometimes, people try to treat it themselves. They are convinced there is something wrong with their hip and the treatments begin. However, one thing is for sure, hip pain is not always as it appears. Hip pain can be a result of a problem in the hip joint itself. However, it can also be a result of a back problem or a soft tissue problem around the hip region. Obtaining an accurate diagnosi…