Back Pain

Ankylosing spondylitis is inflammatory (auto-immume) arthritis of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. It often starts as a dull pain in the lower back or buttocks that is improved with activity. As the disease progresses, patients lose range of motion in the spine, leading to more severe stiffness and pain. Ankylosing spondylitis has a very strong genetic component (90+% have the HLA-B27 genotype) and is more common in men than women.

Arthritis refers to inflammation of a joint and/or joint pain. There are many different types of arthritis and, over time, the symptoms may become more and more severe, leading to loss of range of motion and/or inability of the joint to support weight.

Disc degeneration or acute injury can cause the nucleus to herniate into the spinal canal or the neural foramen.

The coccyx is the end of the spine, just below the sacrum. The human coccyx is often considered a vestigial remnant or corollary of a tail; thus, the coccyx is referred to as the tailbone. Coccyx pain or coccydynia is pain at the tailbone.

Joints are ubiquitous in the human body as they are involved in movement of the spine and extremity. Joints play a crucial role in the kinematics of the human body as they are involved with movement and also help in unloading sheer pressure and weight of the body.

Disc degeneration or acute injury can cause the nucleus to herniate into the spinal canal or the neural foramen.

Muscle spasms are painful, involuntary skeletal muscle contractions associated with abnormal electrical activity.

Lumbar post-laminectomy syndrome (failed back surgery syndrome) means that a patient continues to experience significant pain after they have had a spine surgery.

The interspinous ligaments of the lower cervical and upper thoracic spine and their associated muscles are susceptible to the development to the development of acute and chronic pain symptomatology following overuse. It is thought that bursitis is responsible for this pain syndrome.

Radiculopathy is dysfunction of a spinal nerve root (or roots) that results in pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness in either your arm or leg depending on which nerve root(s) are involved. When radiculopathy is present in the lumbar nerve roots, it produces sciatica; in the cervical nerve roots, it produces pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in the shoulder, arm, wrist, and hands.

When a bone in the spine collapses, it is called a vertebral compression fracture. These fractures happen most commonly in the lower thoracic and lumbar spine.