Spine Conditions Treated in Albert Lea
Spine specialists in Albert Lea, Minnesota, review your symptoms in a personal consultation to determine what is causing your back or neck pain.
Spine conditions treated include:
- Back pain
- Degenerative disk disease
- Herniated disk
- Radiculopathy
- Referred pain
- Sciatica
- Spinal stenosis
- Spondylosis
Back pain
Back pain is one of most common reasons that people seek medical attention or miss work. Most people have back pain at least once. For most people, back pain is a short-term annoyance that can be resolved with little or no treatment. For others, back pain can be a disabling, chronic condition.
It's common because your back is a complex system of more than 30 bones held together with muscles, tendons, discs and ligaments, which constantly are under tension. Your back supports your entire body, and experiences a lot of wear and tear over time.
Back pain can come on suddenly and last a few days or up to six weeks (acute). Back pain that lasts more than three months (chronic) is less common than acute back pain and often requires attention by a medical professional to develop a treatment plan. Back pain often develops without a specific cause that your doctor can identify with a test or imaging study.
Conditions commonly linked to back pain include:
- Arthritis
Osteoarthritis can affect the joints of the back. In some cases, arthritis in the spine can contribute to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord, which is a condition called spinal stenosis. Other forms of inflammatory arthritis can contribute to chronic low back pain. - Bulging or ruptured disks
Disks act as cushions between the bones (vertebrae) in your spine. The soft material inside a disk can bulge or rupture and press on a nerve. However, you can have a bulging or ruptured disk without back pain. Disk disease often is found incidentally when you undergo spine X-rays for some other reason. - Muscle or ligament strain
Repeated heavy lifting or a sudden awkward movement may strain back muscles and spinal ligaments. If you're in poor physical condition, constant strain on your back may cause painful muscle spasms. - Osteoporosis
Your spine's vertebrae can develop compression fractures if your bones become porous and brittle.
Degenerative disk disease
As you age, the soft disks between your vertebrae begin to dry out and shrink. This narrows the space between the vertebrae, which makes the spine less stable and decreases its flexibility. This can cause pain, weakness, or numbness. A degenerative disk does not always cause symptoms and varies widely in nature and severity.
Herniated disk
A herniated disk refers to a problem with one of the rubbery cushions, or disks, between the individual bones called vertebrae that stack up to make your spine. A spinal disk is a little like a jelly donut with a softer center encased within a tougher exterior. Sometimes called a slipped disk or a ruptured disk, a herniated disk occurs when some of the softer "jelly" pushes out through a tear in the tougher exterior. A herniated disk can irritate nearby nerves and result in pain, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg. However, many people experience no symptoms from a herniated disk.
Radiculopathy
When a nerve in the spine is irritated or pinched, this is referred to as a radiculopathy. This commonly causes pain radiating from the spine into the arm, trunk or torso, or the buttock and legs. Herniated disks are the most common cause of a pinched nerve leading to radiating pain into the arm or leg. There are other medical conditions that can mimic or look like a pinched nerve. Imaging studies, such as MRI scan or nerve testing often may help your medical team in determining the cause and treatment options.
Referred pain
Referred pain is when you have an injury or condition in one area of your body, but feel the pain somewhere else. This happens because all of the nerves in the body are part a connected network. Referred pain can occur anywhere, but it is commonly experienced in the neck, shoulders and back. Conditions impacting your internal organs, muscles, or the connective tissue around the muscles can be the cause of back or neck pain.
Sciatica
Sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which branches from your lower back through your hips and buttocks and down each leg. Sciatica typically affects only one side of your body. It most commonly occurs when a herniated disk, bone spur on the spine, or narrowing of the spine, called spinal stenosis, compresses a lumbosacral nerve root. This causes inflammation, pain, and often some numbness in the affected leg. Although the pain associated with sciatica can be severe, most cases resolve with nonoperative treatments in a few weeks.
Spinal stenosis
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces within your spine, which can put pressure on the spinal cord or nerves that travel through the spinal canal. Spinal stenosis occurs most often in the lower back and neck. Some people with spinal stenosis may not have symptoms. Others may experience pain, tingling, numbness, and muscle weakness. Symptoms can worsen over time. Spinal stenosis is most commonly caused by wear-and-tear changes in the spine related to osteoarthritis.
Spondylosis
Spondylosis is a general term for age-related wear and tear osteoarthritis affecting your spine. As the disks dehydrate and shrink, signs of osteoarthritis develop, including bony projections along the edges of bones, called osteophytes or bone spurs. Spondylosis is common and worsens with age with more than 85% of people older than 60 affected. Most experience no symptoms, but when they do occur, nonsurgical treatments often are effective.
