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SPINE CONDITIONS
The Board Certified physicians at Houston Orthopedic & Spine Hospital specilize in spine surgery. We have spine doctors who are highly trained to treat back pain and conditions. Listed below are common spine conditions treated by our orthopedic surgeons. |
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Arthritis
Arthritis literally means "inflammation of a joint." In some forms of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, the inflammation arises because the smooth covering (articular cartilage) on the ends of bones become damaged or worn. Osteoarthritis is usually found in one, usually weightbearing, joint.
Symptoms
Symptoms can include swelling of the joint, moderate to severe pain, soreness and stiffness of the joint and the symptoms usually occur particularly early in the morning on waking or following prolonged inactivity.
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Bursitis
Bursitis is the inflammation of one or more bursae (small sacs) of synovial fluid in the body. The bursae rest at the points where internal functionaries, such as muscles and tendons, slide across bone. Healthy bursae create a smooth, almost frictionless functional gliding surface making normal movement painless.
Symptoms
When bursitis occurs, however, movement relying upon the inflamed bursa becomes difficult and painful. Moreover, movement of tendons and muscles over the inflamed bursa aggravates its inflammation, perpetuating the problem.
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Chronic Pain
There are two types of pain: acute and chronic. Acute pain comes on quickly like the pain you feel immediately after an injury or surgery and is usually treatable. Chronic pain can start out as acute pain and persist over time; and can be resistant to pain medication.
Symptoms
Pain after an injury or illness becomes chronic when it does not deminish after the normal recovery period presecribed by your physician. Chronic pain is often described as a shooting, buring or aching sensation; and causes great discomfort, soreness, tightness or stiffness.
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Cyst, Mass or Tumor
A 'cyst is a closed sac having a distinct membrane and division on the nearby tissue. It may contain air, fluids, or semi-solid material. Once formed, a cyst could go away on its own or may have to be removed through surgery.
A tumor is the name for a swelling or lesion formed by an abnormal growth of cells. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer. A tumor can be benign, pre-malignant or malignant, whereas cancer is by definition malignant.
Spinal tumors are neoplasms located in the spinal cord. They are mostly metastases from primary cancers elsewhere (commonly breast, prostate and lung). Primary tumors may be benign (e.g. hemangioma) or malignant in nature.
Symptoms
A cyst or a tumor can cause pain, irritation or swelling. Sometimes either can be visible to the naked eye. The symptoms seen of a spinal tumor are due to spinal nerve compression and weakening of the vertebral structure.
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Degenerative Disc Disease
Degeneration of the intervertebral disc, often called "degenerative disc disease" (DDD) of the vertebral column, is a condition that can be painful and can greatly affect the quality of one's life. While disc degeneration is a normal part of aging and for most people is not a problem, for certain individuals a degenerated disc can cause severe constant chronic pain.
Symptoms
With symptomatic degenerative disc disease, chronic low back pain sometimes radiates to the hips, or there is pain in the buttocks or thigh while walking; sporadic tingling or weakness through the knees may also be evident. Similar pain may be felt or may increase while sitting, bending, lifting, and twisting. Chronic neck pain can also be caused in the upper spine, with pain radiating to the shoulders, arms and hands.
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Fracture
A bone may be completely fractured or partially fractured in any number of ways (cross-wise, lengthwise, in the middle).
Symptoms
Fractured means broken. Whether you have a complete or a partial fracture, you have a broken bone.
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Herniated Disc
A spinal disc herniation, informally and misleadingly called a "slipped disc", is a medical condition affecting the spine, in which a tear in the outer, fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc allows the soft, central portion to bulge out.
Symptoms
Symptoms can range from little or no pain if the disc is the only tissue injured, to severe and unrelenting neck or low back pain that will radiate into the regions served by affected nerve roots that are irritated or impinged by the herniated material. Often, herniated discs are not diagnosed immediately, as the patients come with undefined pains in the thighs, knees or feet. Other symptoms may include sensory changes such as numbness, tingling, muscular weakness, paralysis, paresthesia and affection of reflexes.
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Kyphosis
Kyphosis, also called hunchback, is a common condition of a curvature of the upper (thoracic) spine. It can be the result of degenerative diseases (such as arthritis), developmental problems, osteoporosis with compression fractures of the vertebrae and/or trauma.
Symptoms
In the sense of a deformity, it is the pathological curving of the spine, where parts of the spinal column lose some or all of their lordotic profile. This causes a bowing of the back, seen as a slouching back and breathing difficulties. Severe cases can cause great discomfort and even lead to death.
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Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA, also known as degenerative arthritis, degenerative joint disease), is a disease involving degradation of joints, including articular cartilage and the subchondral bone (the bone under the cartilage.)
Symptoms
The main symptom is acute pain, causing loss of ability and often stiffness. "Pain" is generally described as a sharp ache, or a burning sensation in the associate muscles and tendons. OA can cause a crackling noise when the affected joint is moved or touched, and patients may experience muscle spasm and contractions in the tendons. Humid and cold weather increases the pain in many patients.
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Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced, bone microarchitecture is disrupted, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered. The term "established osteoporosis" includes the presence of a fragility fracture. Given its influence in the risk of fragility fracture, osteoporosis may significantly affect life expectancy and quality of life.
Symptoms
Osteoporosis itself has no specific symptoms; its main consequence is the increased risk of bone fractures. Osteoporotic fractures are those that occur in situations where healthy people would not normally break a bone; they are therefore regarded as fragility fractures. Typical fragility fractures occur in the vertebral column, rib, hip and wrist.
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Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side, shaped like an "S" or "C" and may also be rotated. For adults, it can be very painful. It is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.
Symptoms
Symptoms of scoliosis include pain (mostly in adults), uneven musculature on one side of the spine, a rib hump and/or prominent shoulder blade caused by rotation of the ribcage in thoracic scoliosis, uneven hips, rib cage and shoulder levels and/or asymmetric size or location of breasts in females.
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Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosis is a medical condition in which the spinal canal narrows and compresses the spinal cord and nerves. This is usually due to the common occurrence of spinal degeneration that occurs with aging. It can also sometimes be caused by spinal disc herniation, osteoporosis or a tumor.
Spinal stenosis may affect the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spine. In some cases, it may be present in all three places in the same patient. Lumbar spinal stenosis results in low back pain as well as pain or abnormal sensations in the legs, thighs, feet or buttocks, or loss of bladder and bowel control.
Symptoms
The first symptoms of stenosis are bouts of low back or neck pain. After a few months or years, this may progress to pain that is described as claudicant pain or claudication. This is a sensation of not getting enough blood to the arms or legs. It occurs more frequently in the legs.
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Traumatic Injury
Injury or bodily injury is damage or harm caused to the structure or function of the body caused by an outside agent or force, which may be physical or chemical, and either by accident or intentional. Personal Injury also refers to damage caused to the reputation of another rather than physical harm to the body.
Symptoms
Symptoms can include swelling of the injured area, moderate to severe pain, soreness and stiffnes.
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