Spine Disorders

There are an unlimited number of back and neck diagnoses that the physicians at Pain & Spine Care Specialists treat on a daily basis. Here are some of the more common ones.

A spinal fracture resulting from compression of the vertebra. Compression fractures can occur in any area of the spine.

Degenerative Disc Disease: A normal wear-and-tear process of the spine that occurs after multiple annular tears have developed, resulting in the nucleus pulposus losing the ability to function as a shock absorber.

Herniated Disc: Herniated Disc is also referred to as herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP), disc rupture, or disc prolapse. The disc consists of a tough outer layer (the annulus fibrosus) and a gel-like center (the nucleus pulposus). With age the center of the disc may start to lose water content, making the disc less effective as a cushion, possibly causing displacement of the disc’s center (called a herniated or ruptured disc) through a crack in the outer layer.

Nerve Compression: A pathologic condition that causes pressure on nerves, resulting in possible nerve damage and muscle weakness or atrophy.

Osteoporosis: A disorder characterized by abnormal loss of bone, occurring most frequently in post-menopausal females, in sedentary individuals, and in patients on long-term steroid treatment.

Radiculopathy: A dysfunction of a nerve root with symptoms that may consist of weakness, pain, numbness, and tingling.

Sciatica: Pain radiating or traveling into the buttock, back of the thigh, and often down the leg into the calf and foot usually caused by irritation of a nerve root of the sciatic nerve, often from compression by a disc or degenerative disease.

Scoliosis: Scoliosis is defined as a lateral curvature of the spine, most readily noticed when looking at the child from the back (or front). This is frequently manifested as a shoulder or pelvic asymmetry or an overall imbalance of the trunk to the left or right.

Spinal Stenosis: Stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal, typically in the lumbar (lower back) or cervical (neck) areas of the spine.

Spondylolisthesis:

The partial forward dislocation of one vertebrae over the one below it. A condition in which a fracture occurs in the pars inarticularis of the vertebrae