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LOWER BACK PAIN
The sacrum at the base of the spine is the
"keystone" bone, on which all of the most
vital structures of the body rest. Besides
the lower vertebrae and the rest of the
spinal column that it supports, it bears the
weight of the entire torso with all its
major organs.
And since the
core of the central nervous system is housed
in the spinal cord, and the nerves affect
not only the legs and other extremities, but
also the glands and the organs, the
importance of keeping this area healthy and
properly aligned becomes readily apparent.
It also explains why so much of the pain
reported to physicians is rooted in the
lower back.
Descriptions
and diagnosis of common low back pain
include:
Lumbrosacral strain or sprain indicates
a soft tissue injury of the lower back,
equivalent to a sprained ankle.
Discogenic
syndrome is used to describe pain
originating in the lumbar disk, due to tears
in the annulus, release of chemical
mediators, or micromotion.
Disk
herniation indicates a displacement of
the nucleus pulposus from the intervertebral
space into the spinal canal or foramen, or
outside the foramen. This can "pinch" a
nerve root and cause
sciatica.
Facet
syndrome describes pain originating in
the zygapophyseal or "facet" joints between
the vertebrae, characteristically localized
in the back, aggravated by movement and
alleviated by rest.
Spondylolisthesis is the slipping
forward of one vertebral segment onto
another. Retrolisthesis describes the
inverse: the slipping backward of one
vertebra onto another.
Spondylolysis indicates a defect in the
structure of the pars interarticularis,
while spondylosis is a catch-all phrase
describing the changes that occur as a
result of degenerative disk disease, such as
desiccation of the disk, narrowing of the
interspace,
inflammation, spurring or
degeneration of the bone, and ligament
hypertrophy.
Spinal
stenosis is used to describe the
narrowing, in part or in whole, of the
spinal canal, either through spondylosis or
a congenital defect.
Spinal
instability is a very general term used
when a more precise diagnosis eludes the
physician. Specifically, it refers to excess
motion of the vertebrae, and can be shown on
flexion and extension x-rays. If instability
is severe, it can cause spinal cord injury
and paralysis.
Perhaps the
most distressing is "failed back syndrome"
-- an official-sounding term to describe the
pain of those poor patients whose surgical
attempts have failed to correct their
problem.
The most
common cause of failed back syndrome is poor
judgment on the part of the physician.
Surgery prescribed as a last resort, with a
hope and a prayer that it might alleviate
the pain.
Unfortunately,
often times surgery does little to help, and
in fact can make things worse. Frequently
surgery results in post-operative scarring,
which often exacerbates the initial problem
or causes new pain syndromes.
Subsequent
"corrective" surgery can help in some cases,
particularly if the damage done by the first
operation involves clearly observable
physical complications like nerve root
compression, massive scarring, bone spurring
or foraminal compression.
More>>
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DARROW
WELLNESS INSTITUTE
