06 Jul What is Spondylosis?
We in our practice keep hearing many patients carrying a belief about Spondylosis. Its time to educate ourselves with the myths of spondylosis.
“I’ve got Spondylosis” ,“Mujhe spondylitis bataya tha mere doctor ne”, “Aur spondylitis ki toh taklif kaafi time se hain”. We all spine surgeons hear this at least ten times in a day, if not more. What exactly that means we ask sometimes to our patients and the reply comes “Gap pad gaya hai” ( there is Gap in my neck/back bones). It is made out to sound like a dreaded disease that one has. Lets clear some cobwebs surrounding this….
First of all it is SPONDYLOSIS and not spondylitis. It happens to be the most common finding in patients with back or neck pain.
What exactly happens?
Back and neck spondylosis is a process that sets in our spine due to aging and repeated usage. Everyone of us is going to get it- some more, some less. Its more like your shoe wearing out after months of usage. So first thing- Its not a disease.
What exactly happens is that the small joints of the spine (called facet joints) and the cushion between the bones (called as disc and seen as space or gap on x-ray) in the spine are constantly in use due to our day to day activities of sitting, walking, running, lifting etc. The discs and facet joints in our spine keep us flexible in our neck and lower back. Any machine which has moving parts is subjected to wear due to the forces on it. With repeated usage these both too wear out – exactly like our shoes or like our shock-absorbers in vehicles. This process has been named spondylosis. So yes, its going to happen to all of us- less in some of us and more in others. Please see the image.
Due to wearing the “gap” between bones on X-ray is actually reduced and not appears/increased as is the most popular misconception.
Why me??
often the sufferer would ask the above question.
Some percent of this is genetic (wearing out of cushions or discs) but a lot also depends on the person surrounding the spine. Therefore issues like weight gain, job profile (worst in sitting professionals), weak supporting structures around the spine (mainly stomach and back muscle strength) adversely affects the wearing off phenomenon.
A important thing to remember is that wearing off of the discs or spondylosis is a repetitive injury which keeps happening due to day to day activities of living. It is never a single event. It builds over a period of time. Most people would remember the period when they had this severe pain in back, but actually it had knowingly/unknowingly built up over a period of time due to lack of maintenance of the back and abnormal daily habits of sitting,lifting weights,relaxing etc.
Advanced stages of spondylosis build the stage for a nerve pinch in the spine (the nerve called spinal cord). The space available for the nerve in the spine is at the receiving end of advanced stages. There is a risk of developing a slipped disc or trapped nerves in the spine (called spinal canal stenosis in medical terms). This happens both in the neck and the lower back commonly. A spine surgery to relieve the trapped nerves (and hence the extremity pain associated with it) is extremely beneficial in properly selected cases. check the related post Results of cervical spine surgery. Not all people with spondylosis need a surgery.
Nobody can beat ageing or spondylosis. Although what is in our hands is to develop good habits. Hence developing a healthy lifestyle with controlled weight and good exercises helps develop healthy neck and back. Also read 5 tips to prevent back pain
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