A Spine Epidemic?

There is an existing and increasing epidemic that is not recognised by the media. HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and bird flu hog the headlines.

Modern life though has contributed to another growing problem : back and neck pain.

In my practise I have noticed that back and neck pain is prevalent in both the young and the old.

The reasons for this lie in the roots of 21st Century living. Children now spend a great deal of time in front of the ubiquitous computer. They are carrying heavier loads of books and even laptop computers to school. Poor posture is an important contributor to this mix of ingrediants.

The bad habits learned in youth persist into the working years. Unfortunately modern office life encourages poor posture and prolonged sitting. Regular travel for work contributes to what I term "spine stress".

Another factor in "spine stress" is the modern concept of exercise. Exercise is often not integrated into daily life in a gradual or even trained fashion. It is often done irregularly and in haste with intensity being a substitute for lack of time.

It is no wonder that all this spine stress contributes to neck and back pain. This pain may come intially from muscle tension and muscular strain. With time, disc degeneration occurs. This of course can lead to disc herniation and spinal cord and nerve root compression. The consequences of these can be far more serious that the mere experience of pain. Apart from pain shooting down an arm or a leg, numbness and weakness in a limb can occur. Unfortunately although we currently have the technology to replace a bady damaged disc in the spine we still cannot replace or even repair well, damaged spinal nerves.

The purpose of this site is to help others understand the spine and to provide information both new and old on prevention, current treatment and research for spine and pain problems.

Dr Prem Pillay