Herniation of intervertebral disc or, herniated disc, is one of the most common causes of lower back pain. Herniated discs can occur at all levels of the spinal column, but are generally found to occur most often at the lumbar (lower) spine. A herniated or, bulging disc is when the disc from the spinal column begins to push out of its outer ring (“Herniated disk in the lower back,” 2012). Once this happens, the patient will usually feel intense pain or discomfort that may or may not be alleviated when changing positions or taking medications (NSAIDs or cortisone shots with lidocaine). The most common cause of herniated discs is due to natural aging, but it is also commonly caused by frequent wear and tear due to strenuous activities (heavy lifting, repetitive movements, walking up and down stairs, etc.) (2012). A patient may experience back pain, numbness or tingling in the legs or feet, weakness in legs or feet, and, in more serious cases, loss of bladder or bowel control (2012). Current treatments for herniated disc that are invasive procedures include, but are not limited to, laminectomy, discectomy, and spinal fusion (“Herniated Disk,” 2013). 1.…
Hi Patry, Thank you for sharing your notion about “recurrent acute episodes of low back pain”. According to Shinichi et al. (2016), ninety percent of adults will have an episode of low back pain (LBP) in their lifetime, moreover about 24-87% will experience the recurrence of the LBP a year following the acute bout. Petersen and Lystad (2016) presented a case report about a 48-year-old male police officer, complaining of acute LBP of two weeks duration. Two months later after the first episode…
Spinal stenosis is also part of the aging process and is the narrowing of the spinal column which causing pressure on the spinal cord. Stenosis can affect any part of the spine but is more serious in the cervical region. It is very important to get a proper diagnosis from your back specialist. How is a Diagnosis Made? Your back specialist will want to do some tests before a treatment plan is initiated which may include spinal x-rays, CT scans, and MRI’s. These tests will check the condition of…
Sciatica Sciatica (neuralgia of a sciatic nerve, lumbarsacral radiculitis). The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body. It contains many sensory and motor fibers, passes through the rear surface of the buttocks and thighs, shins, and then splits into smaller bronchi - peroneal and tibial nerves. The Sciatica is an inflammation of a sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve originates from nervous roots of lumbar department of a spinal cord and lowers branchii on the lower extremity,…
2003, Guo et al. 1999) and 100 million in the United Kingdom (Department of Health 2000). This incurred a hefty cost on employers which estimated to be 200 billion dollars annually in the US (Stewart et al. 2003, Ricci et al. 2006) and £624 million in the UK (Department of Health 2000). 1.2 Concepts of Non-specific LBP Despite this, the majority of low back pain is not attributable to a specific known pathology; hence, the etiology of non-specific LBP remains unclear (Balagué et al. 2012b).…
A herniated disk is a problem with one of the rubbery cushions or also known as a disk. A disk has a soft center and a hard covering. These are sometimes called a slipped disk or a ruptured disk. A herniated disk occurs with the inside of the disk pushes out through a tear into the hard part of the disk. It can affect the nervous around it. Which causes the pain, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg. In some cases some people do not have symptoms from a herniated disk. They also most likely do…
The claimant works as a truck driver. He had an injury on 08/28/2017 while he was tying down loads, he suddenly felt low back pain. He was unable to perform his work the following morning. MRI of the lumbar spine dated 09/13/2017 showed desiccation of disc at the L4-L5 level with circumferential disc bulge and mild degenerative change facets. There was a mild bilateral bony neural foraminal narrowing at the L4-L5 level with possible but not definite L4 nerve root impingement. The tip of the…
This is a 60-year-old male with a 10/01/2015 date of injury. A specific mechanism of injury has not been described. DIAGNOSES: 1. Cervical discogenic pain/bilateral cervical facet pain C2-# and C5-C6/ cervical sprain/strain. 2. Bilateral cervical radicular pain C5-C6 L>R 3. Cervicogenic neck pain with cervicogenic headaches/bilateral occipital neuralgia. 4. Bilateral shoulder sprain/strain. 5. Bilateral wrist sprain/strain/bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. 6. Bilateral hand/ first…
Introduction Everyday nurses talk to their patients about all of the ways they can modify their lives in order to be healthier and stay out of the hospital. However, nurses are not good at taking their own advice. They are some of the unhealthiest people. Throughout school nurses are trained to give the best care possible to all of their patients, even if that meant no lunch that day. There are so many ways that nurses do not take care of their bodies and some of these may be a shock. I will…
With an annual incidence of 5 per 1000 persons, the lumbosacral radicular syndrome caused by a lumbar disk herniation (LDH) is a frequently observed problem 13. The most important symptom is lumbosacral radicular leg pain following a dermatomal pattern from below the knee till the feet and toes. The pain worsens with coughing. Other clinical findings may include unilateral spasm of the paraspinal muscles, gait deformity, limited forward flexion and sensory deficits such as muscle weakness and…