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Spinal Arthritis
Spinal arthritis, or spondylosis, is an inflammation of the joints in the spinal column. It commonly affects the lumbar spine, which makes up the bones of the lower back area. It most commonly affects the elderly, as well as the obese and those who have had spinal injuries in the past, or do a great deal of heavy lifting.
Each segment of the spinal column is connected to the next in three places— there is a spinal disk in front, and two facet joints in back. It is these joints that normally allow movement of the abdomen. But when a person has spondylosis, the inflammation makes certain movements difficult and painful. The spinal disk may also degenerate, and the victim may develop spinal stenosis, resulting in walking difficulties and intense pain or numbness in the legs. The sensation in the lower back is often especially painful when the person gets out of bed in the morning.
Research on the disease has been going on for little over a century and a half. In 1868, the Medical Times & Gazette discussed several issues of spinal arthritis— connected with the disease known as locomotor ataxy— in the knee and elbow joints. In most of these cases, the affected joint grew larger than its counterpart, but there was no pain there. Thirty- one years later, in 1899, an article by Dr. Archibald Church appeared in the Chicago Medical Recorder describing “a case [actually, a number of cases] of spinal arthritis deformans,” which he called “rheumatism of the spine.” In two of them, he reported, “the whole spine was stiff, and there was ankylosis of the ribs,” while in a third “the rigidity of the spine was limited to the dorsal region.” Among the causes of the condition, Dr. Church listed the sexually transmitted diseases gonorrhea and syphilis, “exposure to changes in temperature and wet, injury, and amount of tramua. Small joints are rarely affected, and there is rarely any pain beyond that dependent on the rigidity. Check out our News section for new developments and treatments on Spinal Arthritis.
Scoliosis is another condition of the spinal column, characterized by a sideways curvature of that bone, which thus looks like an S- curve, rather than a straight line, when viewed through an X ray machine. As the disease progresses, the victim’s lung capacity may decrease, making it difficult to breathe and rendering him unable to participate in most physical activities.
The causes of scoliosis are not fully understood; in about 70 percent of all cases the disease appeared to have arisen spontaneously, with no clear single cause (doctors speak of such cases as “idiopathic”). In many cases, those who developed scoliosis already had additional disorders, including cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, familial dysautonomia (people with this disorder cannot feel pain), and proteus syndrome.
Both spinal arthritis and scoliosis may need to be treated surgically. The physician may also recommend changes in lifestyle, or use occupational therapy.
For more information, check out our pages on:
* Spinal Arthritis Treatment
* Spinal Arthritis Videos
* Spinal Arthritis in Dogs