Yearly Archives: 2011


How the Healthy Spine Works

Your spine is an amazing structure with the flexibility that allows you to move freely and the strength to support your body weight.  A healthy spine is not only responsible for your mobility, but also for protecting large portions of the nervous system.  Learn more about how a healthy spine works in this overview of spinal […]


You Don’t Have to Undergo Surgery for Chronic Back Pain

Chronic back pain can interrupt day-to-day activities and cause immense discomfort.  Thankfully, when searching for viable treatment options for your back pain, you don’t always need to turn to a surgeon for answers.  Here are just a few alternatives to surgery that many people use as successful back and neck pain treatments:   Physical Therapy […]


A Guide to Treating Back Pain with Spinal Injections

For patients suffering from back pain who have tried medication and physical therapy,   there is another option.  Spinal injections are non-surgical back treatments used to mitigate your pain.  Often, spinal injections work better than oral medications, as spinal injections are delivered to the site of pain. Epidural Steroid Injections An epidural steroid injection is the […]


Exercises for Low Back Pain

Exercise can be the key to your recovery, as well as a good prevention against future pain. Our physicians have developed an exercise routine with easy explanations and diagrams to help you follow them properly. The purpose of these exercises is to promote flexibility and strengthen the spinal musculature. Low Back Exercises Unless instructed otherwise, […]


Myopathies

What are myopathies? Myopathy is the medical term for muscle disease. There are many causes of muscle disease, such as infection, muscle injury due to medications, inherited diseases affecting muscle function, disorders of electrolyte levels, and thyroid disease. Some of these disorders, such as polymyositis, dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis, develop when the immune system […]


Ulnar Nerve Injury

An ulnar nerve injury is an injury that damages the ulnar nerve, one of the three main nerves in the arm. The ulnar nerve runs from the shoulder to the hand and is responsible for carrying signals between the hand and the brain, enabling motion and feeling in the hand and forearm. An injury to […]


Iliotibial Band Syndrome – A Common Cause of Knee Pain

Iliotibial band syndrome, or ITBS, is due to inflammation of the iliotibial band, a thick band of fibrous tissue that runs down the outside of the leg. The iliotibial band begins at the hip and extends to the outer side of the shin bone (tibia) just below the knee joint. The band functions in coordination […]


Nerve Conduction Studies

A nerve conduction study is a spinal diagnostic study that usually done along with electromyography (EMG). The nerve conduction study stimulates specific nerves and records their ability to send the impulse to the muscle. The study can show where there is a blockage of the nerve pathway. Nerve conduction studies are done to:     […]


Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy describes damage to the peripheral nervous system, the vast communications network that transmits information from the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system) to every other part of the body. Peripheral nerves also send sensory information back to the brain and spinal cord, such as a message that the feet are cold […]


Lumbar Discography

What is Discography? Discography is a diagnostic procedure, not a treatment.  X-ray dye is injected into the spinal disc(s) and an x-ray (called a “discogram”) is taken. The discogram may be normal or may show tears (fissures) in the lining of the disc. The results of discography can be used to plan spinal surgery, disc […]