Do you wish to see back pain treatment Manhattan specialists because your backache has been worsening? Chances are that you have an injury to your back’s soft tissues or a more serious condition. Maybe you have sciatica nerve issues, bone spurs, ruptured or bulging discs, spinal stenosis, tumor or arthritis. The quickest way to know the exact cause of your discomfort is to visit the top back pain doctor Manhattan area. While arthritis of the back is less common among backache victims, it could be the case that you have it. Spinal arthritis is the top cause of lumbar pain and stiffness that worsens when one wakes up in the morning, reduces when working or exercising and worsens again as the day comes to an end. It is also characterized by swelling.
Signs that you need to visit the best pain management Manhattan Clinic
If you have spinal arthritis of any kind, there are certain symptoms you will notice. First, there will be back and/neck stiffness and pain that will worsen for up to half-an-hour after waking up in the morning. This is normally called the first movement pain and it is a sign that you need to see the best back pain doctor Manhattan can provide. Next, you are likely to feel pain that is bad enough to disrupt your sleep plus swelling and warmth in one or more joints in your back. The swelling and warmth worsen when the weather changes. If the aching spinal joint is pressed, localized pain is usually felt when it’s caused by spinal arthritis.
Aching type of pain that is characterized by irregular or steady joint aches is often felt when one has arthritis and needs the attention of a pain management Manhattan doctor. This discomfort can increase if one is involved in a strenuous activity or movement. If you have spinal arthritis, you may not bend forward easily due to loss of flexibility. Additionally, there might be a sound of a bone rubbing on another bone when a given spinal joint is moved. This is notable in your cervical spinal area (neck area). Finally, you can experience a sensation of numbness or tingling in your spinal cord and this is often caused by bone spurs located at the end of spinal joints and can inflame your nerves. If you notice any of the above-mentioned symptoms, call the best back pain doctor Manhattan can offer you.
Types of spinal arthritis
Arthritis comes in several different kinds and is accompanied by inflammation. According to back pain treatment Manhattan specialists and other spinal health professionals, chronic arthritis that affects the back area takes four forms. These include the following:
1. Ankylosing spondylitis
This is a rheumatologic disorder that attacks the spinal cord. If you are unable to see a back pain doctor Manhattan expert on time, ankylosing spondylitis can make your joints fuse together. This can lead to joint stiffness and anklosis(limited range of motion). As well as this, it can worsen and probably affect your peripheral joints— including hips. To know you have this condition, get the most reliable back pain treatment Manhattan offers. Also, you will know you have AS if you are between teenage and forty years of age and have sporadic and dull lumbar spine pain and stiffness. Joint stiffness is mostly felt in the mornings and can continue to plague a victim for several hours and get worsened by fatigue. These symptoms can be felt and tolerated for a long period of time without the victim realizing that they have ankylosing spondylitis. While men will have AS in their spines, women will develop it in their hips and other peripheral joints.
So it affects both men and women. But why does it develop? As any back pain doctor Manhattan can confirm, AS has no known cause. It is, however, thought to happen to people who are genetically predisposed to it. While other types of back conditions get better with more rest, Ankylosing Spondylitis worsens and this is why any provider of back pain treatment Manhattan services would ask you to avoid being dormant the entire day. While it begins in the lower back area, AS can spread to your mid-back and upper back areas in due course and cause spine stiffening. Still, if nothing is done, the condition affects the neck and the end result is a deformity called the rigid kyphosis. This triggers a hunched forward posture of the spine.
Regarding diagnosis of AS, the most educated back pain doctor Manhattan specialist will want to find out your medical history and do a physical test, X-rays and lab tests. Sometimes a blood test is performed to search for the human leukocyte antigen HLA-B27. As for the treatment procedure, AS is best treated when it has not caused immense spinal deformities and complications. NSAIDs are applied to reduce joint stiffness, inflammation and pain. However, your back pain management Manhattan doctor can provide TNF (tumor necrosis factor) blockers when NSAIDs fail to work successfully. These are injections that can reduce pain, stiffness and inflammation and healing, particularly if combined with physical therapy. When joint pain is so severe or if there is considerable joint damage, a patient is likely to be treated via surgery. This is often the case if an AS patient suffers a serious fall that causes a fracture that is difficult to treat. But, if you seek help from Dr. Michael Nguyen, M.D, one of the best pain specialists in the U.S, you will be properly treated.
2. Facet Arthropathy
A lot of the body can suffer from arthritis and the knee and hip seem to be the most susceptible. Other areas that suffer are the facet join – these are the joints that link the vertebrae together. When this area is affected, there is going to be the help of a back pain doctor Manhattan sought and it is very likely that you will find yourself in back pain treatment Manhattan clinic. If you find the spine and look to the rear of that, you will find the facet joints – and their job is to ensure that the vertebrae of the spine are kept in the place they should be and ensure that there is not too much movement. As parts of the bone either wear away or become arthritic, the condition is known as facet arthropathy and this is otherwise known as there being a disease in the facet joints.
Knowing the Symptoms of Facet Arthropathy?
Many people who contract this condition will first notice that they are suffering pain in the lower back and that certain action causes it to flare up or increase in intensity. This includes things such as bending, standing or twisting the torso. It is easy to locate the area where the problem occurs as the pain will just be felt in a specific area, and it is easy to decide that this is not a slipped disc or even sciatica as there are no unpleasant sensations or pain felt in the legs or around the buttocks.
Bone spurs are a further indication that this is arthritis of the facet joints and once they have appeared, these bony projections will limit the space that the nerve roots can take up as they work their way out of the spinal canal. Spinal stenosis is a condition that can lead to pain and this time it will affect the legs and buttocks. They will become weak and at times numb and a back pain doctor Manhattan is required.
It would be normal for someone who suffered from facet arthropathy to also have other illness and these are going to make the symptoms worse as they will all be working together. Aging is bound to lead to arthritis and the general deterioration of the discs. There will certainly be the loss of movement that age brings and the person with the condition will be nowhere near as flexible as they used to be, and their ability to absorb shocks will be clearly diminished and this can be tested at a back pain treatment Manhattan center.
How to Diagnose Facet Arthropathy?
Your back pain doctor Manhattan will need to carry out specific tests to find out if the reason for the pain in your back is facet arthropathy, and this can be carried out in a back pain treatment Manhattan hospital. You are likely to undergo: –
- A bone scan and this will highlight any areas tin the spine that have become inflamed.
- MRI or CAT scan – this piece of machinery will pick up even the most basic of signs and will prove that even mild pain is being caused by the degeneration of the facet joints.
It is also possible to discover this condition via an injection. An anti-inflammatory steroid mixed with a local anaesthetic will be injected into the joints that are causing the pain at a back pain treatment Manhattan specialist hospital near you. If there is no improvement, then it will be determined that the cause is something else and further tests will have to be done. If the pain is relieved, then facet arthropathy will be conformed as the cause, or at least one of the causes.
- How Do You Treat Facet Arthropathy?
Facet arthropathy can be treated by a back pain doctor Manhattan in a variety of ways and while it may not be cured, the pain can be relieved.
- Not all treatments are going to have to be surgical and at a back pain treatment Manhattan center. Initially there will be instructions regarding movement and eliminating the bending and twisting that have started the pain. Medication can be prescribed, and this will be anti-inflammatory. Working alongside this will be exercise that are going to make the area stronger as well as letting you stretch in a safe way. The stronger the patient becomes the better the lumbar spine muscles will work.
- Injections by a back pain doctor Manhattan. A lot of the pain can be taken away using epidural steroid injections and they are known to be able to relieve the inflammation but there is a downside. This can only be a temporary solution as it is not safe to have too many injections. Once they wear off the pain will return in as little as a couple of months.
- Ablation of the facet joints – this is a more recent form of treatment and the aim is to destroy the nerves that lead to the facet joints. If successful, this should at least limit the pain and symptoms of arthritis. At a back pain treatment Manhattan clinic, a small electrical probe will be placed into the skin close to the location of the problematic facet joints. An electrical current will be transmitted to the tip. This current is going to kill off the nerve and the procedure is known as a sinu-vertebral nerve ablation.
- Surgery on the back – there will be times when this is going to be the only way to get rid of the pain brought on by facet arthropathy. If nerve root compression has been identified because of the growth of the facet joints, of other issues such as degenerative disc disorder or spinal stenosis then surgery is going to be the preferred option. In a process of spinal fusion, there will be the removal of certain facet joints. They will be the ones that are between different levels of the spine and the ones that are going to be fused together. They will not be able to cause any more pain once this has been carried out.
3. Osteoarthritis?
Most people who suffer from arthritis will suffer from osteoarthritis, and world-wide there are millions of sufferers. As we age the joints suffer from wear and tear, and arthritis can be an issue in any joints in the body, including the ones that are in the spine.
- Discover the Symptoms
It is a condition that tends to come about slowly and gets worse the older we get. Some of the signs are: –
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- Pain in the joints.
- Difficulty with being as flexible as in the past
- Tenderness when the area meets something else.
- Bone spurs – these are bits of bone that project out of the normal bone.
- Stiffness if there has not been much movement for a while.
What Are the Causes of Osteoarthritis?
There are several reasons why someone will suffer from arthritis and in some cases, there is nothing that they have done to cause it and nothing that they can do to change it. The causes include: –
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- Genetics – If there is a family member that has the condition then there is the risk that the gene will be passed on.
- Obesity – The heavier you are, the more of a risk of developing osteoarthritis. Often this will be in the spine but can be in any of the joints in the legs.
- If you have an injury, sporting or otherwise, there is a risk that as you age, osteoarthritis will set in.
Diagnosis
It can take time to get a diagnosis at a back pain treatment Manhattan clinic as there are other forms of arthritis that could be the cause of the pain. It is likely that they will take several x-rays as well as an MRI. This form of scan will allow them to see the spine in more detail, as well as assessing the tissue.
Osteoarthritis Treatment
Before resorting to surgery, there will be other treatments tried by the back pain doctor Manhattan. These will include physical therapy as well as medication. If these do not work, then it will have to be surgery, and this is most likely when there is a vertebral compression fracture.
4. What is Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction?
A widespread cause of back pain is sacroiliac dysfunction. Mostly it can be dealt with without surgery, but in severe cases, back surgery will be needed. Located between the hip and spine the sacroiliac joint is usually quite immobile. If the joint becomes misaligned or ankylosing spondylitis is confirmed, then pain is going to be suffered and trip to a back pain treatment Manhattan health centre required
What Are the Symptoms?
The main one will be pain in the buttocks, usually but not exclusively on the one side. It can move its way to the knee via the thigh and pain will be felt most intensely when lying down. If it is left alone it will become much worse and can be debilitating.
Causes of Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction
Pregnancy is one cause as is the tightening of muscles and arthritis. If the cartilage wears away between the bones it can also occur. Trauma is a major concern but normally this shows itself over a period of time.
- Diagnosis
This is not the easiest condition for a back pain doctor Manhattan to diagnose as it can be mistaken for other conditions – a herniated disc being the most common. A check for sacroiliac dysfunction must be performed to ensure the correct results. The joint will be moved and if there is pain that should confirm it. Lidocaine can be injected into the joint at a back pain treatment hospital and if the pain is relieved by this numbing agent then the conclusion is that the pain comes from the sacroiliac joint. The cause can be prirformis syndrome as when the muscle is moved the buttock hurts. Sciatica can be misdiagnosed by this sinu-vertebral nerve ablation test.
There is no proper way to know the arthritic condition that is ailing your back than seeing a doctor like Dr. Michael Nguyen, M.D at his clinic in Manhattan.