How many people who suffer from back pain ever stop to think that the problem might be their shoes? What could connect the pain and fatigue in you lower back to the shoes on your feet? One answer lies in the concept known to sports trainers and medical professionals as a kinetic chain.
A pinched nerve can occur anywhere in the spine: neck (cervical spine), mid back (thoracic spine), and low back (lumbar spine). From the anatomy stand point, we called “foraminal stenosis” where the nerve gets pinched in the neuro-foramen or the hole that the nerves leaving the spine. From the clinical standpoints, we called radiculopathy or radicular symptoms which describing the pattern of pain starting from the spine and radiating do wot arms/hands or Read more…
The degenerative disc is believed to be a natural process when we are getting older. The disc is the “cushion” between the bone and the surrounding by a capsule. This is probably the most common cause of back pain. When we are getting mature (as I hate to say we are getting older), the water content and chemical contents of the cushion are diminished, meaning that the disc is no longer “juicy” or Read more…
Spinal stenosis means narrowing of the spinal canal and therefore the is not enough signal down the nerve that running to your arms or legs. The most common lumbar stenosis symptom is difficult to walk and limited walking distance(a medical term called neurogenic claudication) as the legs and feet do not get enough nerve signals. Other symptoms are tingling, numbness, and weakness. Back pain is usually not the most common complaint. Classic history Read more…
It is important to understand what the sciatica is and what causes sciatica. The most common cause is herniated disc. The good news is that this usually gets better over time and with non-surgical treatments. The bad news is some patients state that “sciatica is worse than having a child-birth”. Tips that you can do to get some relief are: Avoid prolonged sitting: The disc pressure is highest with sitting Alternate your position Read more…
“Sciatica” is the symptoms that described the pain that starting from the lower back and radiates down to the leg, usually one side, below the knee. This pain sometimes described as jolting, electric shock-like and worsening with coughing, sneezing, or sometimes straining yourself while having a bowel movement as these activities increasing the pressure in your disc causing the “herniated” disc or the “herniation” part pushing more onto the spinal nerve. The most Read more…
Back pain is one of the most common symptoms we are all experienced at some point in our life time. Mine is usually a “nagging”, “aching” rather than a “pain” and it usually takes 2-3 days before it faded and went away on its own. However, if you experience frequent symptoms and it is worsening over time, there might be underlying problems that you might not know about it. Here are structures in Read more…
Back pain is a common problem and so common that we at least had one episode in our lifetime. The majority of the back pain symptoms, 80%-90% will resolve by itself or just need simple remedies such as rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medications, some stretching exercises. Most of the time it is just a pulled muscle or flaring up of inflammation from baseline wear and tear, i.e arthritis, a degenerative disc which most of Read more…
You might have seen or heard about endoscopic spine surgery and wondering what it is. Historically, everything is evolved with more advanced technology and integration of resreached and data, medicine and surgery are the same. A century ago, we have not heard of knee scope, shoulder scope, or hip scope. Many surgeons were labeled “crazy” with the idea of performing arthroscopy to treat joint pathologies. Many gave up due to peer pressure. Some Read more…
When I was trained 20+yeasr ago, open surgery is a standard of care. But we kept seeing the patients came back for more problems. Recent researches showed that what we knew and what we did in the past likely contribute to the ongoing problems that the patient has. Well, we learn from our mistakes. Many researchers showed that the open surgery causing damage to the “essential” muscle in the back named “Multifidus”. It Read more…
Dr. T serves the areas of Anthem, Apache Junction, Avondale, Buckeye, CasaGrande, Cave Creek, Chandler, Flagstaff, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Payson, Peoria, Phoenix, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Queen Creek, Safford, SanTan, Scottsdale, Sedona, Showlow, Suncity, Suncity West, Tempe, Tucson, Yuma, and surrounding areas.
