Spondylolisthesis: Another Reason to Take Care of Your Waist
More than 3 million people are diagnosed each year with spondylolisthesis, a spinal disorder in which one bone slides over another. It can affect both adults and children and is common among youth engaged in athletics.
Spine surgeon at Texas Health Plano, Dr. “Spondylolisthesis is Latin in origin,” said Isador Lieberman. "Spondy means spine, and listhesis refers to a bone that slides forward in the other bone. They are not lined up in their proper alignment."
It's possible to have spondylolisthesis and not know it - a doctor's diagnosis is necessary to identify the disorder. It progresses over time, it can be from birth. Due to age-related deterioration of the spine, it can also occur in adulthood. But either way, Lieberman says, the resulting low back pain can be treated.
IMPORTANT POINTS IN THE INTERVIEW:
What causes spondylolisthesis? "In the young adolescent age group, you're usually born with this congenital disease and it progresses over time. One bone slides forward or sideways on the other bone. Both tend to be a progressive problem, where the bones slip on their own or when one bone slides over the other, the nerves become pinched and tight. or you experience pain because it's damaged."
It's often seen in athletic children and adolescents: "You can hasten the sliding of one bone over another. We see this often in gymnasts, dancers, soccer teams, some baseball pitchers can have spondylolisthesis."
You may have spondylolisthesis and not know it, right? "Exactly. We know it's there when we see it on an X-ray, but we can't really predict how fast it will progress, how far it will progress, or how much it will affect our patients. That's why we follow them."
Treatment:
“If we see it progressing rapidly, patients will first of all complain about the shape of their waist. So the cure for this is to reposition it to reposition it and align it.
When we see it on X-ray, if it's not progressing rapidly and patients have only minimal back discomfort, we recommend that they continue an exercise program to maintain and support their muscle strength and maintain their flexibility, we usually put them in rehab. We encourage them to avoid certain activities that we know can make them worse.
If nerve problems begin to develop, we try to realign the spine and protect the nerves. This is surgery to improve the situation."
Tips to take better care of our waist:
"First, we push many young athletes hard, we push them to more strength conditioning, and we put too much force on the lower spine before the spine is physiologically mature and able to handle that force. I recommend maintaining flexibility, agility, and endurance rather than strength."
"Keep yourself slim. Keep yourself active. The more weight you carry, the more stress puts on the spine."
"Bone health and bone quality. In women, it is crucial to prevent osteoporosis and the changes it causes over time by keeping up with an active exercise program and maintaining calcium and vitamin D in their diets to optimize bone health."
"Then there's cigarettes. The nicotine in cigarette smoke reduces blood flow to the discs, muscles, and ligaments."
"Instead of straining the spine by bending straight forward, squat on your knees to lift."
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