Spondylosis is wear-and-tear which changes the spine. Most of the people have face spondylosis in their spine when they grow old. These age-related differences in the spine vary from one person to another and do not usually cause problems.
The symptoms of spondylosis are usually occasional pain and stiffness.
Spondylosis occurs in your neck is known as cervical spondylosis. The changes due to spondylosis can also be seen in other segments of your spine such as the lumbar region, or lower back.
People are more likely to get spondylosis as they age. According to the study, it has been found that 10% of the people are affected by spondylosis at the age of 25 years, however, 95% of the people affected by spondylosis at the age of 65 years. Only some people have problems as a result.
The people over the age of 70 years is likely to show some spondylosis on spine X-rays. According to researchers wear and tear affects almost everyone.
Spinal osteoarthritis is another term which is used for spondylosis. Osteoarthritis is the type of arthritis that can be caused by wear and tear and can affect any joint in your body.
What Causes Spondylosis?
The spine of our body is the backbone which runs from the base of the head to the tailbone. This part of the skeleton gives the structure to the body and also supports most of its weight. It also carries and protects almost all of the main nerve branches that run from the brain.
The curved shape structure in our body is our spine which is made up of bones and is known as vertebrae. These vertebrae have joints between them which allow the spine to move flexibly.
The vertebrae bones of the spine are separated by softer tissues. These cartilage surfaces and discs between the vertebrae give smooth movement and cushion against any impact on the bones.
With the increasing age of the people, the discs gradually age which results that they start losing some of their cushioning ability because they become drier and this is the reason that it makes the discs thinner and harder.
The other cause of spondylosis is formed by the facet joints. These are the joints which also break down with age because of wear and tear on their cartilage surfaces. More growth of bone can happen which can be triggered by the direct contact of bones rubbing against each other. Spondylosis is a condition which can then result in bony growths that are known as spurs or projections.
The loss of soft tissues and the formation of spurs make your spine stiffer and it also affects your back movement. There is more friction between the bones of the spine.
In some cases, the symptoms of spondylosis become worse than general stiffness and it can also arise from these changes in the spine.
Spondylosis can result in a narrowing of the canal which carries your spinal cord nerves and this condition is known as spinal stenosis.
Treatment of Spondylosis
Many people dealing with the cause of spondylosis do not need treatment as they produce only mild, occasional problems of stiffness and pain.
There are some non-surgical treatments are available at the hospitals under Spine Surgery India which can provide relief from the symptoms of spondylosis and these are as follows:
a) Medications:
Your surgeon will prescribe some over-the-counter painkillers. In some cases, the surgeons prescribe the NSAIDs; these are the recommended drugs such as ibuprofen to get relief from the spondylosis. Keeping physically active.
b) Exercise: The surgeons recommend exercise which can loosen the stiff joints and provide strength to other muscles which will support the aging spine. Your surgeon allows you to take rest when pain is bad.
c) Physical therapists: Your surgeon will assign a physical therapist who can help with exercise and also do physical manipulation with therapies such as massage. However, still the pain is persistent then your surgeon will offer you some drug treatments which includes the following:
- They will prescribe higher doses of painkillers or more powerful ones such as codeine
- The will give you steroids in the form of tablet or injections for severe pain.
The will give you steroid injection which alleviates your pain and also reduces inflammation. In the case of neck spondylitis, it is given to reach the nerve roots that come out of the part of the spine affected.
The surgeon at the hospitals under Spine Surgery India also prescribes some other drugs which include the following:
- Nerve pain drugs
- Topical creams
- Muscle relaxants if there is a problem with muscle spasm
Before taking any of the medications or drugs the patient should always speak to their doctor and pharmacists about the side effects of the drugs and medications.
Surgical Treatment
Generally, the surgeons at the hospitals under Spine Surgery India recommend the surgery as the last option when other spondylosis treatments have failed. After that, the surgery is only an option left which can provide the relief from spondylosis.
The following are the severe problems of spondylosis where your surgeon will perform the surgery and these are:
- First, when the nerves serving the body are being pinched and it can cause the serious numbness or weakness then the surgery is the option to get the relief.
- Secondly, when the spinal cord itself is being diseased due to the changes in spine and nervous system is damaged then it gets worse without surgery.
Your surgeon will do everything to matches the exact problem with the spine and accordingly they will plan against the overall clinical signs and the findings of scans such as X-rays.
Your surgeon will perform the surgical procedures to treat complications of spondylosis which includes the removal of the disc or piece of bone which is causing the problem against the nerves and to the nearby vertebrae which your surgeon fused after the operation also they will replace the damaged disc with an artificial disc.
The recovery after the surgery would take a month before the patient is completely fit again.
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