Specialist warns that degenerative spine disease is a silent danger that often occurs in the elderly. Especially those aged 50 and over, who will experience back pain, pain down the legs. And if there is compression of the nerves, it may cause numbness. Delayed treatment risks disability.
As Thailand enters the aging society, diseases resulting from physical degeneration are increasing. “Degenerative spine” is a disease that causes pain and suffering in the elderly. As well as being a great burden for caregivers.
Dr. Thapanat Chantrapas, a spine specialist at S Spine Hospital. Revealed that the cause of spinal degeneration is mostly due to increasing age. Which causes degeneration of joints or spinal discs. Other causes apart from age include overuse. Such as lifting heavy objects, accidents, and repeated falls. Which can cause spinal joints to degenerate. This can lead to joint degeneration in younger people.
For symptoms of degenerative spine, there will be neck or back pain which may come and go. However, some people may have chronic pain or sometimes the pain may be more severe when changing postures.
Diagnosis of degenerative spine disease Doctors diagnose degenerative spine disease based on the symptoms that patients report. Such as increased pain along the center of the neck and back when bending the neck or back, along with a physical examination that reveals abnormalities.
For the cervical spine, the doctor will have the patient turn their head from left to right and tilt their head up and down. They will experience pain and numbness radiating down the arm from a compressed nerve. In the lumbar spine examination. The เล่น UFABET ผ่านมือถือ สะดวกทุกที่ ทุกเวลา doctor may have the patient bend down or move their back and waist in different directions.
This is all to test for limited movement, along with pain or weakness. Since spinal degeneration causes problems with hand use and walking, the doctor may test the patient’s hands, arms, legs, and feet for weakness in their hands, along with reduced precision in activities. If the patient is found to have difficulty responding, which may indicate nerve damage, the doctor may request an X-RAY in addition to an MRI to further diagnose the symptoms.
Dr. Thapanat revealed that there are many ways to treat degenerative spine disease, from least to most. When patients find that they have pain, whether in the neck or back. Such as back pain radiating down the legs, neck pain radiating down the arms, numbness or weakness. Some have headaches similar to migraines. These symptoms are warning signs of degenerative spine disease caused by the bones pressing on the nerves. If they will receive treatment by surgery, they must first undergo the following preliminary treatment:
Start with taking medication and doing physical therapy. However, if after more than 6 weeks the symptoms do not improve or you cannot return to your normal daily life, cannot tolerate the pain, the leg muscles are atrophied, or your arms and legs are so weak that you cannot pick up objects, cannot use them normally, or cannot walk, surgery may be an indication.
Currently, spinal surgery is not a scary thing. With modern treatment techniques, innovations have been developed from spinal surgery to endoscopic drilling, which uses a device with an endoscopic lens attached to the tip of the camera, like an eye in the patient. This allows the doctor to see abnormalities clearly and precisely, selectively cutting out only the parts that cause problems without having to cut out the good muscles, resulting in small wounds, less pain, safety, and fast recovery.
Therefore, MIS-Spine is easy for those receiving treatment because after just 1 night, they can return to their normal lives. The specialist doctor will diagnose and point out the lesions using X-ray and MRI results in order to plan the treatment with the patient correctly, precisely, and safely.
Therefore, this treatment method is popular with patients who want to return to their former lifestyle, such as returning to live with their family, loved ones, or doing what they like, what they want to do, and not being a burden to those close to them more quickly.
In addition, we have developed research to elevate spinal treatment to be on par with world-class standards, enabling the hospital’s medical team and personnel to be experts in the spine, along with modern technology and treatment techniques that differ from all over the world, giving patients the confidence that “come to S Spine for complete spinal treatment in one place.”
S Spine Hospital is ready to be a part of taking care of you and your loved ones as important people to help you recover from back pain and return to your normal life again.