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…

"A PINCHED NERVE IN THE NECK" What is it? In between the vertebrae of the neck are cervical discs. The cervical disc serves to cushion the weight of the head while allowing the vertebrae to move. When a piece of the disc escapes through a tear in its thick containment ligaments called the annulus, this is called a cervical disc herniation. Herniations occur into the spinal canal and can compress the spinal nerves or even the spinal cord. Causes M…

We often don't think about our bones particularly when we are young and healthy. However, the strength of our bones as we grow older depends on how we care for our bones even in childhood. Osteoporosis is the thinning of our bones making us susceptible to fracture. Most people think of osteoporosis as a condition of the elderly. Since bone health starts in childhood, the risk of developing osteoporosis can be a result of decisions made in those e…

Back pain has many faces and to many people, it can be distressing, disabling or even frightening. Back pain can be due to a strain, degenerative disc disease, a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, a complex spinal deformity, a fracture, or even a tumor. It is clear that back pain is not created equal and effective treatment depends on what's wrong. Almost everyone experiences low back pain at one time or another. In fact, it is o…

A natural consequence of aging is degeneration. When this degeneration occurs in the spine, it is called spondylosis (or degenerative arthritis of the spinal vertebra) . Although degeneration can affect any part of the spine and is common in adults, development of pain and disability from spondylosis is far less common. More than 60% of all adults will experience neck pain in their lifetime but only 5% will be disabled by it. Seventy percent of t…

Back pain is as common as it is enigmatic. An estimated 90% of the population will experience at least one episode of back pain with the vast majority of symptoms resolving within one month. However, for certain people, back pain can become chronic and disabling. There are multiple causes of back pain. These include the muscles of the back, ligaments, nerves and the bony architecture of the spine to name a few. Unfortunately, the normal process o…