The Dos

How to relieve your back pain?

Chiropractic care and degenerative disc disease

December 30

Posted by Thibault Renalut in Pathology | No Comments

Chiropractors are doctors who specialize in non-surgical treatment of spine problems. To do so, they use fresh and fast approaches that target neurological and mechanical origins of back pain and neck.

Chiropractors have undergone rigorous training to diagnose différentq types of injuries of the neck and back. Your chiropractor will look carefully at your history and perform a thorough examination to determine which tissues have been injured, what joints of the spine have lost their mobility and the nature of your degenerative disc disease.

The goal of chiropractic treatment of degenerative disc disease is to optimize the mobility of the spine to treat spinal disks, reduce muscle spasm and improve muscle strength.

Chiropractors are experts in spinal manipulation, a direct and active treatment that makes the original column mobility. Patients are good candidates for this approach, spinal manipulation can be a great help for the disabled and disturbed mechanisms characterizing degenerative problems of articulation.

How a Chiropractor Diagnostic there a degenerative disc?

Even if you complain to your chiropractor for pain in the neck or lower back and you tell him that you are suffering from a degenerative disc, it will examine your spine in its entirety. The chiropractor will check your neck (cervical spine), your upper back (thoracic spine) and your lower back (lumbar spine). It is important to examine the whole column because even if only your lower back or your neck hurts you, other areas of the spine can be affected.

Your chiropractor will identify areas where joint mobility is limited, disk injuries, muscle spasms and ligament injuries. He will do through mobility and palpation, diagnostic techniques specific to chiropractic. They run using touch. The chiropractor will look for those areas soft and strained, then consider the ease of movement of each vertebral joint.

The chiropractor will also analyze the way you walk and will look at your overall posture and alignment of your spine. These details will help understand the mechanisms of your body and how your spine works and moves.

You also talk vo medical history with your chiropractor. This will make your radio column to evaluate the possible degenerative changes, or MRI if necessary.

After examination, the chiropractor will be able to create an effective treatment plan for your pain in the neck and back.

Approaches chiropractic treatment possible for your degenerative disc disease
The exact treatment plan depends on your diagnosis. Your chiropractor may use a combination of manipulation or adjustments of the spine to improve mobility of joints and promote healing of soft tissue.

Among the techniques of spinal manipulation are:

  • The specific manipulation of the spine: The chiropractor identifies the joints with limited mobility or abnormal, also called subluxations, and makes their mobility through a gentle technique but in depth. This technique quickly stretches the soft tissues and stimulates the nervous system and its mobility makes the original column.
  • Flexion-distraction technique: It is a kind of gentle manipulation and surface used to treat herniated discs or excluded or not accompanied by pain in the arms and legs. Spinal stenosis is also treated with this approach. This treatment is straightforward and uses a specialized table to assist the chiropractor, but uses a slow pumping action on the disc instead of a direct force.
  • The instrument assisted manipulation: This is another technical area. Using portable instruments, the chiropractor may apply a force without manipulating the depth column. It is a technique particularly appropriate for elderly patients with degenerative joint syndrome.

The chiropractor can also use manual therapy to treat soft tissue injuries such as ligaments and muscles. Here are some examples:

  • The trigger point therapy: The chiropractor identifies specific points hypertonic (tight), a painful muscle. Then it applies direct pressure (with fingers) on these points to relieve tension.
  • Manual stretching techniques and strength of joints

  • Therapeutic massages

  • The soft tissue therapy assisted by instruments: The chiropractor uses the Graston technique, an instrument-assisted therapy used to treat soft tissue injuries. Your chiropractor will apply repeated blows of the instrument on areas of muscle injuries.

In addition to spinal manipulation and manual techniques, the chiropractor may use various forms of therapy to help reduce the inflammation caused by the MDD. Here are some examples:

  • Interferential electrical stimulation: It uses a low frequency electric current to stimulate your muscles to reduce inflammation.
  • Ultrasound: By increasing blood circulation, an ultrasound helps reduce muscle spasms, stiffness and pain. By sending sound waves deep into the muscle tissue, it creates a gentle heat that promotes circulation and healing.

To strengthen the mechanisms of the joints (return to normal spinal mobility), your chiropractor will prescribe therapeutic exercises.

Chiropractors treat pain in the neck and back "full persons" so unique. Thus, they do not focus only on your back pain. Chiropractic care include nutrition, stress management and goals in life every day (as they may aggravate the pain, so you should talk if you really want to say goodbye to it).

Chiropractors emphasize that prevention is the key to good health in the long run it is another example of chiropractors who are interested in the whole person and not just his medical problem. Keep the neck and back in good health is vital for good chiropractic approach.

How Chiropractic Does Help the Patients with Degenerative Disc Disease?

A chiropractor will help you quickly find your normal activities so you can enjoy your daily life without pain. He or she will address the mechanical causes (the way your spine moves) or neurological (nerve related) of your degenerative disc disease.

Sciatica: Symptoms and Possible Causes

December 27

Posted by Thibault Renalut in Diseases Back | No Comments

Sciatica is it a disease or symptom?
Sciatica is the term commonly used to describe pain propagating in the sciatic nerve. Sciatica is a symptom caused by a problem in the lumbar spine. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body, it has the diameter of a finger.
The fibers of the sciatic nerve starting at the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae (L4, L5) and sacral vertebrae earliest. The nerve passes through the sciatic foramen just below the piriformis muscle (lateral thigh rotator) by the back of the hip and the lower part of the gluteus maximus muscle (buttocks, thigh extension). The sciatic nerve then travels vertically on the back of the thigh, the knee, it branches to the hamstrings (calf) and ends in the feet.
Symptoms of Sciatica
Usually, sciatica affects only one side of the body. The pain may be dull, sharp, burning or accompanied by intermittent shocks of shooting pain beginning in the buttocks and head to the rear or side of the thigh and / or leg. The sciatic nerve then extends below the knee and can be felt in the foot. Sometimes symptoms include tingling and numbness. Sit down and try to remain standing can be painful and difficult. Coughing and sneezing may also intensify the pain.
The Cause: Nerve Compression

The compression of the sciatic nerve can cause any of the symptoms listed above. Deterioration of the nerve is rarely permanent paralysis cases are exceptional because the spinal cord ends before the first lumbar vertebrae. However, a growing weakness of the leg or trunk, or loss of bladder control and / or intestines are indications of cauda equina syndrome, a serious illness requiring emergency treatment.
Among the lumbar spine disorders known to cause compression of the sciatic nerve, we find:
• Herniated discs are the most common causes of sciatica in the lumbar spine.
• degenerative disc disease, a natural biological process associated with aging, known to weaken the disc and could be a harbinger of a herniated disc.
• The lumbar spinal stenosis is a narrowing of one or more neural pathways to degeneration of the disc and / or facet arthrosis. These changes can affect the sciatic nerve.
• The isthmic spondylolistésis results from a stress fracture, often of the 5th lumbar vertebra (L5). The fracture combined with the collapse of the disc can allow the vertebrae from slipping on the first sacral vertebra (S1). Because of the landslide, the L5 nerve root can be pinched when leaving the column.
Tumors and Infections of the Spine are other conditions that can compress the sciatic nerves, but they are rare.
Other diseases can appear and look like a true sciatica but they are difficult to diagnose.
Diagnosing Sciatica
During the examination, the physician looks at the patient's medical history, medications he is taking, he passed a physical and neurological examination, and if necessary, radios, scanners and / or MRI. A correct diagnosis requires analysis of the patient's pain. It often provides the patient a diagram that illustrates the pain for the distribution of pain and the sensation (eg, tingling and burning).
The physician's questions can be:
• "How developed pain?"
• "On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst pain imaginable, how would you in your grief? "
• "The pain gets worse she going up or down a slope? "
• "How daily activities are they affected by pain? "
• "What type of treatment have you tried it and was it effective? "
The scope of patient movement is observed. Reflexes and muscle strength are tested. The physicist may use a review or more movements to determine the source or cause of pain.

Disc herniation: a non-surgical treatment to begin

December 19

Posted by Thibault Renalut in Relieve your back pain | No Comments

Luckily, the majority of herniated discs do not require surgery. However, a small percentage of people with herniated discs and degenerated discs can feel a pain in the lower back or symptomatic severe and debilitating, which significantly affect their daily lives.
Initial treatment of a herniated disc is generally conservative and nonsurgical. Your doctor may prescribe rest or advise you to keep a low level of activity without pain for a few days or weeks. This will help the inflammation of spinal nerves to decrease.
A herniated disk is often treated with anti-inflammatory drugs if the pain is mild to moderate. An epidural steroid injection can be performed using a needle controlled by X-ray to lead the drug to the exact level of the herniated disc.
Your doctor may recommend physiotherapy. The therapist will use a detailed assessment which, combined with the diagnosis of your doctor determine a treatment specifically tailored for patients with disc herniation. Therapy may include pelvic traction, massage, therapies for hot and cold, ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation and stretching exercises. The pain killers and muscle relaxants may also be useful in addition to physiotherapy.
Surgery
Your doctor can recommend the surgery if the operations of conventional treatment such as physical therapy and medications do not stop the pain or reduce it. He or she will tell you about the types of spine surgery possible, and depending on your specific case, will help you determine which procedure would suit you. As with any surgery, the patient's age, his general health, and other criteria are taken into account when considering surgery.
One should always weigh the pros and cons when it comes to surgery, the benefits against risks. Although a significant percentage of patients with disc herniation have said they felt an intense relief of pain after surgery, there is no guarantee that surgery will help every individual.
You may be considered as a candidate for spine surgery if:
• Pain in the back or leg limits your normal activity or affects your quality of life
• You develop gradually neurological deficits such as weakness and / or numbness of the leg
• You have more control over your bladder and / or your intestines
• You have difficulty standing or walking
• Medication and physical therapy are ineffective
• You're relatively healthy

Surgical Terms
Artificial Disc Surgery - The surgical replacement of a herniated lumbar disc or a disc manufactured by patient. The artificial disc CHARITY ™ is a plastic core between two chrome plates to be inserted into the column.
The Discectomy - the surgical removal of a partial or total intervertebral disc.
Laminectomy - surgical removal of a large part of the bony arch or blades of a vertebra.
The Laminotomy - An opening formed in a blade to relieve pressure on nerve roots.
Spinal Fusion - A procedure in which bone is grafted into the column, thus creating a solid union between two or more vertebrae, and in which instruments such as screws and rods can be used to bring additional spinal support.

Surgery in cases of spinal stenosis

December 16

Posted by Thibault Renalut in cons Care Back Pain | No Comments

Most patients respond well to spinal stenosis non surgical treatments (such as drugs), so you do not always require surgery. However, there are situations where you might want an operation of the column:
• You have tried nonsurgical treatment without success.
• You have severe pain for a very long time.
• You suffer from radiculopathy, medical term used to describe pain, numbness and tingling in the arms or legs.
• You have lost the feeling in your arms or your legs.
• The driving force of your arms or legs is reduced.
• You no longer control your bladder or your intestines.
One of the main goals of surgery for spinal stenosis is to make room in the area of the spinal cord and / or nerve roots. This is called decompression. By giving more room for your spinal cord and nerve roots in your, your surgeon hopes to reduce pain caused by inflammation of nerves.
Another goal of surgery for spinal stenosis: to increase the driving force in your arms or legs. If you lost the feeling of those members, your surgeon hopes to also restore.
Typically, surgeons use two surgical techniques during an operation of spinal stenosis:
• Decompression, where they remove tissue pressing on a nerve structure by releasing the spinal canal (the spinal cord) or foramina (for the nerve roots).

• Stabilization, where they try to limit the movement between the vertebrae.
Surgery for Decompression
To remove the tissue that presses on a nerve, your surgeon may resort to one of the following:
The foraminotomy: If part of a disk or a parrot's beak (osteophyte) presses on a nerve where it leaves the vertebra (through an opening called the foramen), a foraminotomy may be performed. The suffix "Otomi" means "making an incision. Make a foraminotomy means therefore enlarge the opening of the foramen so that the nerve can exit without being compressed.
The Laminectomy: At the back of each vertebra lies a piece of bone that protects your spinal canal and spinal cord and is called the vertebral lamina. She can press your spinal cord, the surgeon will then make more room for your spinal cord by removing all or a portion of the blade.
The Laminotomy: Like a foraminotomy, laminotomy creates a larger opening, this time in the piece of bone that protects your spinal canal and spinal cord (blade spine). The blade can press on your nerves, the surgeon will then give them more space by performing a laminotomy.
Surgery for Stabilization
Surgery for spinal stenosis does not necessarily need a stabilization, also known as the spinal fusion. It is particularly useful when one or more vertebrae are no longer in their correct position, making it unstable column (and painful). The need to use stabilization also depends on the number of vertebrae on which your surgeon should intervene. For example, if he or she must remove the blades (with laminectomy) of several vertebrae, your column will be unstable without these structures. You will need a spinal fusion to help stabilize your spine.
Surgery for spinal stabilization has been practiced for many years. It can be done alone or in conjunction with a surgical decompression. With spinal stabilization, the surgeon creates an environment where the bones of your spine will merge over time (usually after several months or longer). The surgeon uses a bone graft (usually from a bone in your body) or a biological substance (which stimulate bone growth). Your surgeon can use instruments such as son, cables, screws, rods and plates, to improve stability and help the bones to fuse. The fusion will stop movement between the vertebrae, providing long-term stability.
Open surgery or minimally invasive surgery?
If your operation is performed through a relatively large incision in your back, it is called open surgery. Minimally invasive surgery is another option, performed through several small incisions. The surgeon uses a tiny camera and tiny surgical instruments.
However, minimally invasive surgery is not for everyone. If your surgeon must work on many vertebrae, you will probably need to open surgery.
Hazards
As in any operation, surgery for spinal stenosis involves risk. Your doctor will discuss the potential risks before asking you to sign a surgical consent form. Possible complications include (but are not limited to):
• The risks of general anesthesia
• The injury to your spinal cord or nerves
• Non-healing of your bone fusion (pseudoarthrosis)
• No improvement
• The failure or malfunction of an instrument
• Infection and / or pain at the site of bone graft

The Recovery after Surgery Spinal Stenosis
After your operation, you will not feel better instantly. There are chances for you to stay in bed for 24 hours and you will be sedated for 2 to 4 weeks. After surgery, you will receive instructions on how the more conservative you sit, stand and remain standing. It is important to give your body time to heal, your doctor will advise you to limit your activities: generally speaking, do anything that involves moving your spine. You should avoid contact sports and the fact rotate or carry heavy things during your recovery period.
After surgery, be careful. Made immediately tell your doctor of any problems: fever, increased pain, infection, etc..
Always take good care of his body and have healthy habits, but especially after surgery: You should:
• Follow your doctor's treatment. Make regular check-ups.
• Sit and stand up properly.
• Learn the proper technique for lifting a heavy load.
• Perform regular exercise (aerobic exercise are recommended smoothly, but tell your doctor first).
• Use proper sports equipment.
• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
• Eat healthy food (a diet low in fat and rich in fruits and vegetables) and take enough calcium.
• Stop smoking.
• Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.
And hold good: the results of an operation to correct spinal stenosis are generally good. Most of the time, 80 to 90% of patients experience relief of their pain after surgery.

Physical therapy for spinal stenosis

December 13

Posted by Thibault Renalut in cons Care Back Pain | No Comments

Your doctor may refer you to a physiotherapist who will help you to relieve your pain due to spinal stenosis and restore your mobility. Whether you are effected or not, physiotherapy is the key to a good recovery.
Physiotherapy treatment includes both assets and liabilities. Passive treatments help you relax. They also prepare your body for therapeutic exercise, the active part of physiotherapy.
Your physical therapist may recommend you be passive treatments such as:
A Deep Tissue Massage: This technique targets chronic muscle tension, tension in your lower back (lumbar spine) that can be accumulated through your stressful life. The therapist uses direct pressure and friction to try to relieve tension in your soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, muscles).
The Hot / Cold Therapy: Using heat, the therapist seeks to bring more blood to the area targeted for better blood flow brings more oxygen and nutrients, which facilitates the healing of your body.
Cold therapy slows circulation, helping to reduce inflammation, muscle spasm and pain. Your physical therapist will alternate therapies by heat and cold.
TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation): You can even use it at home, if your therapist thinks necessary. A machine stimulates your muscles with varying intensities (but safe) electrical current. TENS can increase production of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. TENS equipment used by your therapist is relatively larger than the machine you might be using you. However, whether small or large, a TENS unit can be a great help.
Ultrasound: By increasing blood circulation, an ultrasound helps reduce muscle spasms, cramps, swelling, stiffness and pain. By sending sound waves deep into the muscle tissue, it creates a gentle heat that promotes circulation and healing.
In the active part of your physical therapy, your doctor will show you exercises that will help you build and maintain a strong spine, enduring, flexible and stable. Some of these exercises will help strengthen your abs, because they support your back, but these exercises will be more than just abs. Your therapist will create an individualized, taking into account your health and your past. Your exercises may not be suitable for another person suffering from spinal stenosis.

Exercises for spinal stenosis

December 6

Posted by Thibault Renalut in Care cons back pain , relieve your back pain | No Comments

If you suffer due to spinal stenosis, the last thing you want is likely to exercise. You should certainly avoid activities that require your spine too (contact sports, for example). On the other hand, you should not completely stop exercising because the muscles strong and healthy provide better support to your back. In addition, if you do not move at all (you think lie heal your pain?), Know that you could actually worsen your situation.
Walk and stretch, as far as reasonable, are appropriate exercises if you suffer from spinal stenosis. Swimming is also an ideal exercise because it works all the muscles of your back in a safe and therapeutic environment. The water supports your weight, which means that your back feels less pressure. You could also walk into the water.

Medicines and injections to treat the column spinal stenosis

December 3

Posted by Thibault Renalut in cons Care Back Pain | No Comments

Unless your symptoms are really severe, your doctor will probably choose to start your treatment with drugs.

You will surely agree: the main objective is to relieve your pain and inflammation. Analgesics such as acetaminophen (Tylenol ®) can control the pain but have no effect on inflammation.
If you want to fight pain and inflammation, you should consider anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These products relieve pain and reduce inflammation and swelling. Among NSAIDs, aspirin can find, ibuprofen (Advil ™ or Motrin ®), indomethacin and naproxen.
If you suffer from a severe case of spinal stenosis, your doctor will perhaps an injection of corticosteroid into the spinal fluid around your spinal cord and nerve roots of your. Also called an epidural steroid injection. It targets the epidural space around the membrane covering the spinal cord and nerve roots. Nerves traverse the epidural space around the neck, shoulders, arms and legs. If a nerve root is inflamed in the epidural space, it can be painful.
An epidural injection sends an anti-inflammatory in the epidural space to decrease inflammation of nerve roots. The epidural injection may provide relief and permanent total or reduce your pain for several months.
Corticosteroids may be particularly useful for treating pain that spread to the back of your leg. Many people who say they felt relief almost immediately after receiving an injection. But steroids can have side effects size. These are rare but you need to know and discuss the risks with your doctor.
Potential side effects of corticosteroids include:
• An increased pain where the injection took place
• Fever after injection (if your temperature exceeds 38.3 ° C for more than 24 hours, notify your doctor)
• Anxiety
• Weight gain
• Sleep disorders
• A high sugar content (especially in diabetics)
• Hypertension
• A decreased ability to fight infections (especially in people who have an infection)
• ulcers in the stomach
• Lesions of the bones in your major joints like your hips (this is called avascular necrosis)
• Cataracts

After an epidural injection, call your doctor if you:
• difficult to control your bladder and / or bowel
• lose sensation and / or function of your arms or legs
• have a headache terribly painful when you sit or stand and that the only way to correct this is to lie
• souffrez d'une douleur extrême qui ne part pas lorsque vous essayez des mesures classiques contre la douleur (ex : des médicaments sans ordonnance)

À cause de ces graves effets secondaires potentiels, la plupart des docteurs limitent le nombre d'injections à un patient. Le nombre que ce dernier reçoit sera déterminé par de nombreux facteurs. Assurez-vous de parler de ce problème avec votre docteur.

Alternative treatments for spinal stenosis: acupuncture and massage

nov 30

Publié par Thibault Renalut dans Soins contre le mal de dos , Soulager votre mal de dos | Aucun commentaire

Voici les traitements alternatifs pour la sténose spinale: des alternatives aux médicaments, à la kinésithérapie et à la chirurgie. Vous pouvez décider d'aller consulter un praticien de la médecine non conventionnelle (MNC) ; La MNC regroupe en quelque sorte les pratiques et thérapies qui ne sont pas considérées comme faisant actuellement partie de la médecine conventionnelle. Cela regroupe l'acupuncture, l'homéopathie et le massage. Bien que ces traitements alternatifs soient considérés comme ne faisant pas partie de la médecine occidentale traditionnelle, de nombreux patients ont affirmé que ces traitements les avaient réellement aidés.
Pour traiter vos douleurs dues à une sténose spinale, vous pourriez envisager:
L'acupuncture: Les acupuncteurs pensent que votre corps renferme une force énergétique appelée Qi ou Chi. Selon eux, lorsque votre Chi est bloqué, vous pouvez développer des maladies physiques. L'acupuncture sert à rétablir un flux Chi énergétique et sain. (Cette approche orientale de la guérison diffère des concepts scientifiques occidentaux. Elle n'en est pas pour autant meilleure ou pire, elle est juste différente).
En acupuncture, le praticien plante de fines aiguilles dans votre corps en des points spécifiques, et sincèrement, ce n'est pas douloureux!
Le massage: Vos douleurs seront peut-être soulagées grâce à un bon massage car celui-ci détendra vos muscles crispés (et la tension peut aggraver votre douleur).

Choses à savoir et conseils au sujet de la sténose spinale

nov 26

Publié par Thibault Renalut dans Pathologie | Aucun commentaire

• Il ya de nombreuses années, la sténose spinale était appelée « paralysie progressive » car elle s'aggrave avec l'âge. La plupart des gens pensait qu'une fois qu'elle avait commencé, il n'y avait pas grand-chose à faire pour arrêter cette sténose spinale. Tout comme l'oubli, la douleur provoquée par la sténose faisait partie des inconvénients de la vieillesse.
• Diagnostiquer une sténose spinale est parfois difficile car les symptômes peuvent ressembler à ceux d'autres maladies. Par exemple, la pseudoclaudication, une crampe de la jambe qui peut être due à la sténose spinale, peut être confondue avec une claudication vasculaire, une maladie des vaisseaux sanguins. Voici comment les différencier : La claudication vasculaire empire quand vous remontez une pente et s'améliore quand vous ne bougez pas. Généralement, la pseudoclaudication s'aggrave en descendant une pente et s'améliore en se penchant en avant ou en s'asseyant.
• Le risque de developer une sténose spinale est plus important chez les personnes de plus de 50 ans.
• Les exercices Pilates peuvent aider à réduire la douleur causée par une sténose spinale, car les mouvements ici utilisés peuvent allonger les muscles de votre colonne, augmentant ainsi l'espace autour des racines nerveuses et même autour du canal rachidien. Les exercices Pilates renforcent également les muscles du tronc, ce qui aide à stabiliser votre colonne.

Examinations in cases of spinal stenosis

November 23

Publié par Thibault Renalut dans Soins contre le mal de dos | Aucun commentaire

Diagnostiquer une sténose spinale peut être un vrai défi. Ses symptômes peuvent ressembler à ceux d'autres maladies, et ils peuvent également aller et venir. Pour découvrir la cause de votre sténose spinale, votre docteur devra pratiquer plusieurs examens et tests, afin de développer un plan de traitement adapté (une manière de gérer votre douleur et d'autres symptômes et de vous aider à guérir).
Lors de votre visite, le spécialiste de la colonne vous interrogera sur vos symptômes actuels et les remèdes que vous avez déjà essayés. He or she will ask you typical questions such as:
• Quand a commencé la douleur?
• Quelles activités avez-vous récemment pratiquées ?
• Qu'avez-vous fait contre cette douleur dorsale ?
• Votre douleur est-elle fixe ou se déplace-t-elle vers d'autres parties de votre corps (ex : vers vos jambes ou vos bras) ?
• Y at-il quelque chose qui réduise ou empire la douleur ? De manière plus spécifique, le fait de descendre une pente at-il un effet sur la douleur ? Que se passe-t-il quand vous vous penchez en avant ou que vous vous asseyez ?

Vous devrez peut-être également passer des tests radiographiques pour aider votre docteur à diagnostiquer la cause de votre douleur.
Il se peut que vous passiez une radio, qui montrera l'espace discal rétréci, les fractures, les becs de perroquets (ostéophytes), ou l'ostéoarthrite. Un scanner (ou tomodensitomètre) ou une Imagerie par Résonnance Magnétique (IRM) peuvent montrer une hernie discale ou exclue.
Une scintigraphie osseuse. Celle-ci aidera votre docteur à détecter des problèmes de la colonne, tels que l'ostéoarthrite, des fractures ou des infections.Vous aurez une très petite quantité de liquide radioactif injecté dans un vaisseau sanguin. Il traversera votre sang et sera absorbé par vos os. Le liquide radioactif sera plus absorbé par une zone où l'activité est anormale, comme une inflammation. Un scanner pourra alors détecter la quantité de radiations dans tous vos os et montrera les « points chauds » pour aider votre docteur à repérer où se trouve le problème.
Myélogramme. Dans ce test, on injectera un colorant spécial dans la zone entourant votre moelle épinière et vos nerfs, (avant cela, la zone sera anesthésiée) puis vous passerez un scanner. L'image montrera une représentation anatomique détaillée de votre colonne, en particulier de vos os et le docteur pourra alors voir si quelquechose appuie sur vos nerfs.