Information / Topics of Interest
The following information is provided for education purposes and as general advice. The topics may or may not relate to you individually. Therefore before taking any action as a result of reading this information, speak to your health practitioner or GP for professional guidance. Please contact Brighton Spinal Group to make an appointment with one of our specialised back care practitioners, to provide a full comprehensive assessment of your condition or for further information.
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Ankylosing Spondylitis is a Rheumatic disease of unknown cause that primarily affects the back bone or spine. The involvement of the sacro-iliac joint (the junction of the bottom of the spine with the pelvic bones) is one of the hallmarks of the disease.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Ankylosing Spondylitis
Blomberg Injection Technique The site of injection is into the sacro-coccygeus muscles, which are the remnants of the tail muscles of animals. Animals use their tails to help them with balance. As we don't have a tail, one theory is that these muscles may go into spasm in response to an injury. The pain from these deep muscles may be difficult to localise and can be felt in the low back , buttock or spreading down the leg.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Blomberg Injection Technique
Chronic Pain The definition of chronic pain is pain lasting longer than 3 months. In practice we usually use this term for persisting pain that continues beyond the time we normally expect for healing of a torn ligament or broken bone.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Chronic Pain
Cortisone Injections Cortisone has widespread effects throughout the body but its main effect is as a powerful regulator of the immune system, reducing inflammation.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Cortisone Injections
Disc Degeneration The process of disc degeneration occurs over a long period of time and the exact cause is unknown. However, recent studies have postulated that the initial process that begins degeneration may be a small crack in the end plates of the vertebral bodies.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Disc Degeneration
Disc Prolapse A quite common, painful disorder of the spine, in which the outer layer of an intervertebral disc ruptures and part of its pulpy core protrudes, causing painful and sometimes disabling pressure on a nerve. About 95% of disc prolapses occur in the lower back, but they can affect any part of the back or neck.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Disc Prolapse
Epidural Caudal Injections Epidural injections have been used in the treatment of back pain and sciatica for about 90 years. The use of epidural injections has seen some controversy in the 1980s because of the use of cortisone. Since that time, the National Health and Medical Research Council has determined that there are no definite adverse effects with the use of cortisone in epidural injections.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Epidural Caudal Injections
Epidural Transforaminal Injections A new more precise technique of transforaminal epidural injection has been developed with the assistance of C-arm fluoroscopy (a high tech X-ray machine that looks at the spine from all directions). In this instance the needle is aimed under X-ray guidance directly between the nerve root and the corner of the disc.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Epidural Transforaminal Injections
Facet Pain The facet joints are the small joints at the back of the spine. They control the movement of the spine. They are generally non-weight-bearing joints, but in heavier people the lower facet joints of the lumbar spine do become weight-bearing and this can add to pain.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Facet Pain
Fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia itself is not a disease in itself, but the term is used to describe people complaining of widespread aches and pains in the muscles and joints throughout the body, combined with sleep disturbance and fatigue. The problem is four times more common in women than in men, and the age of onset is between 30 and 40.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Fibromyalgia
Frozen shoulder (also known as Adhesive Capsulitis) is a fibrous reaction of the ligaments of the shoulder joint that occurs probably in response to an inflammatory event in the shoulder. It may follow some trauma around the shoulder, but at times it occurs spontaneously.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Frozen shoulder
Headaches It is estimated that about 50-80% of the population have a headache at some time in their life. At any one time headaches affect about 20-50% of the population. An Age newspaper survey recently revealed that 19% of the population suffer from regular headaches, most of these having been diagnosed as migraine-type headaches.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Headaches
Low Back Pain Pain originating from the lower back may spread to other adjacent areas. The pain may spread up the back, or more commonly down to the buttocks, to the sacrum and coccyx area, and also down into the legs.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Low Back Pain
MRI Scans Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a simple, painless examination that can produce images of the inside of your body without the use of radiation. The MRI "magnet" uses magnetic fields and radio waves - not Xrays - to "see" your internal organs and soft tissue. Occasionally, an injection is necessary to provide further information about certain organs.
Click to view Handout (PDF) MRI Scans
Musculoskeletal Medicine is the branch of medicine dealing with problems related to pain or dysfunction in the muscles, bones and joints of the body. The bones form the skeleton that provides the rigid framework for the shape of the body. The joints allow for movements. The muscles perform and control those movements.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Musculoskeletal Medicine
Neck Pain Pain originating from the neck may spread to other adjacent areas. The pain may spread up to the head, or down to the upper back, out to the shoulders and also down into the arms. Pain spreading into the arms may not necessarily be due to pinching or irritation of nerves, but may come from deeper structures in the lower neck that tend to produce a deep dull aching type of pain spreading elsewhere.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Neck Pain
Prolotherapy The solution was designed to create an inflammatory reaction initiating the proliferation of scar tissue (sclerosis) in the tissues injected. The idea was to cause thickening, tightening and strengthening of the tissues through scarring. Studies confirm that indeed the results lead to about a 40% increase in collagen fibre strength and cross sectional area of tendons and ligaments.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Prolotherapy
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type 1 is a pain disorder often developing unpredictably following a variety of injuries. Commonly the condition may follow a fracture or crush injury of a hand or a foot. It can also come on after local spinal strain or injury.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
Sleeping Tips There are a number of different types of insomnia, including difficulty getting off to sleep (sleep onset insomnia), early morning waking, poor quality or light sleeping, pain related insomnia, and worry insomnia.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Sleeping Tips
Spondylolisthesis is a condition where there is forward movement of one vertebra upon the one below.
Click to view Handout (PDF) Spondylolisthesis
Disclaimer
The following information is provided for education purposes and as general advice. The topics may or may not relate to you individually. Therefore before taking any action as a result of reading this information, speak to your health practitioner or GP for professional guidance. Please contact Brighton Spinal Group to make an appointment with one of our specialised back care practitioners, to provide a full comprehensive assessment of your condition or for further information.