Central Asian Spine Center
Spine conditions
What it is, where it comes from, how it is diagnosed and how it is treated with and without surgery. Every page is reviewed by a surgeon of the team.
Lumbar spine
Lumbar disc herniation
A tear in the disc lets its soft core press on a nerve. Most herniations shrink on their own within months; the rest can be removed through a 7 mm incision.
Sciatica
Sciatica is leg pain from a pinched or inflamed nerve root in the lower back. A disc herniation is the usual cause; most cases settle within three months.
Lumbar spinal stenosis
The canal around the nerves narrows with age. Legs ache or go heavy after walking and settle on sitting. Many people manage without surgery; the rest are decompressed through a 7 mm incision.
Foraminal stenosis
The tunnel a nerve root leaves through narrows with disc collapse and joint wear. Leg pain at rest is typical. Endoscopic foraminotomy reopens the tunnel through a 7 mm incision.
Degenerative disc disease
Discs dry out and lose height with age; on MRI almost everyone over 60 has it. The term osteochondrosis describes the same thing. Pain needs a cause, and only some causes are treatable.
Spondylolisthesis
One vertebra slides forward on the one below and narrows the space for the nerves. Most low-grade slips are managed without surgery; the rest need decompression, with or without fusion.
Facet joint syndrome
The small joints at the back of each segment wear like any other joint and can ache. Diagnosed by a test injection, treated mostly without surgery; radiofrequency denervation is the main procedure.
Synovial cyst of the lumbar spine
A fluid-filled sac grows out of a worn facet joint and presses on a nerve root, causing sciatica. Needle rupture helps some; surgical removal, often endoscopic, is the definitive treatment.
Recurrent disc herniation
Sciatica that returns after a discectomy is usually a new herniation at the same level. It happens after 5% to 15% of operations. Revision can be endoscopic; fusion is for the unstable few.
Failed back surgery syndrome
Pain that stays or returns after a spine operation has a cause in most cases, and finding it is the work. Some causes are surgical; many are not, and this page says which.
Cauda equina syndrome
A large disc herniation crushes the bundle of nerves that control the bladder, bowel and legs. It is an emergency measured in hours. Go to a hospital with an MRI now.
Cervical spine
Cervical disc herniation
A tear in a neck disc lets its core press on a nerve root, causing arm pain and numbness. Most settle within months; the rest are treated through a 7 mm incision.
Cervical radiculopathy
A pinched nerve root in the neck sends pain, tingling and sometimes weakness down one arm. Most cases settle in months; the rest are freed through a 7 mm incision or from the front.
Cervical spinal stenosis
A narrowed neck canal presses on the spinal cord or its roots. Many people have it without symptoms; when the cord starts to suffer, decompression is the answer.
Cervical myelopathy
The spinal cord in the neck is being squeezed and is starting to fail: clumsy hands, stiff legs, unsteady walking. It usually progresses, and surgery is the treatment that halts it.
Cervical spondylosis
Age-related wear of the neck discs and joints, the finding behind the label osteochondrosis. Common, mostly harmless, and a problem only when it presses on a nerve or the cord.
Thoracic spine
Whole spine
Vertebral compression fracture
A weakened vertebra collapses, usually from osteoporosis. Most heal with time and pain control; cement procedures help a minority, and treating the bone loss is what prevents the next fracture.
Spinal fractures
A broken vertebra after a fall or accident. The fracture pattern, the ligaments and the nerves decide whether it heals with early walking or needs percutaneous or open fixation.
Spondylodiscitis
Infection of a disc and the vertebrae around it. Bacteria, tuberculosis and brucellosis are all common causes here. Antibiotics cure most cases; surgery is for nerve pressure, instability or failure.
Spinal tumours
Most spinal tumours are metastases from a cancer elsewhere. The goals are to keep you walking, control pain and stabilise the spine, decided with oncologists and radiotherapists.
Adult degenerative scoliosis
A sideways curve of the lumbar spine that develops after 50 from worn discs and joints. The symptoms are usually pinched nerves, and many people need a decompression rather than a big fusion.
Not sure what you have? Send the MRI.
A doctor from the team reviews the scans and replies by voice within 48 hours: what it is and what to do next.