Spinal Problems

Slip Disc

Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis is the abnormal increase in thickness of ligaments or bones, or severe disc prolapsecausing compression of the spinal cordand the nerves. This usually happens as the age progresses and due to arthritic changes in the body, which is generally called as ‘spondylolysis’.

Severe compression on the nerves leads to complaints of difficulty in walking, pain in getting up. Feeling of heaviness in both legs/arms, Numbness in both legs/arms. Feeling of weakness in hands or feet.

Spondylolysis & Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolysis means a fracture or defect in the posterior part of the vertebral body, thus creating instability in the spinal column. This instability causes movement of onevertebral body. As one vertebral body slips over the other it pulls the nerves along with it, leading to compression of the nerves, thus causing pain and numbness.

Spondylolisthesis means a permanent slip of one vertebral body over another, this is because there is weakness in the supporting structures leading to compression and pinching of the nerves coming out behind the discs. The slippage of the bones if not reversed causes sometimes permanent damage of the nerves, leading to symptoms of weakness in legs, inability to stand/walk, pain in back and sometimes difficulty in passing urine or motions also.

TB of the spine

TB infection is among the most common infections affecting the Indian population. After the lungs the spinal cord is the most common site that can be affected by Tb.

Tuberculous infection of the spine can be very devastating if not diagnosed at the right time. Tb infection of the vertebral bones causes their damage and forms pus or abscess, this starts pressing on the spinal cord sometimes. As the pressure increases with the increase in pus, the spinal cord starts getting damaged. Thus the patient starts complaining of numbness in legs, weakness & sometimes paralysis can also occur suddenly.

With proper diagnostic facilities the diagnosis can be done at the right time and appropriate medications started. This prevents further damage of the spinal cord and neurological damage. Sometimes the damage to the bones is very severe and as such a surgery may also be required to remove the damaged bones & abscess / pus.

Deformity of the spine

Deformity of the spine means an abnormal curvature of the spine. It is present either since birth, or develops after 5 years of age or in adults. Also it may be caused due to infections like Tb, which after healing cause an odd curvature of the spine.

Most of the deformities are only cosmetically unappealing. Only the deformities, which are present since birth, can cause some difficulty in breathing and differences in heart functions. The deformities are more commonly seen in girls then boys. Surgical correction is required if there is going to be any increase in abnormalities of cardiac or respiratory functions. The other main indication of surgery is correcting the cosmetic deformity if it is very severe.

Sometimesthese can also cause compression of the nerves or damage to the discs. In such cases where the increase in deformity can cause more nerve damage, it needs to be surgically corrected.

Osteoporosis of the spine

Osteoporosis means decrease in the bone density, this usually occurs in old age, when there is loss of calcium and essential elements from the bone leading to decrease in the bone density and thus they become weak.

Commonly it is also seen in women post menopause and in some who have undergone hysterectomy. Sometimes it can also occur in people who have medical conditions like Diabetes Mellitus, Thyroid disorders and other inflammatory conditions causing loss of bone calcium. Thus in these individuals it may occur at an early age also.

Weak bones mean they are most likely to get broken or fractured in simple falls or injuries, especially the vertebral column bones. These bones if fractured take a long time to heal as the bones are less dense and hence the materials required to rebuild the fractured bones are missing.

Ankylosing Spondylitis

Some autoimmune inflammatory conditions of the spine cause inflammation of the joints, leading to swelling of these joints. The swelling reduces by medications but repeated swelling and reduction of swelling leads to destruction and stiffness of the joints.

This stiffness of the joints reduces the mobility of the body parts at that particular point.The joints present in the spine can also be afflicted by this auto-immune disorder. Thus repeated swelling causes these joints also to get damaged. Damaged joints between vertebral bones leads to loss of movements of the spine. Thus patients with ankylosing spondylitis usually have a stiff spine with progressive loss of mobility and severe pain while doing routine activities.