Love you and your nutter back. x
~ Show of support via text message
From the combination of sitting for 10 hours in the car, walking around Boston for 6 hours and using my excellent toe point on stage, my body has revolted. I was experiencing severe sciatica earlier in the month, but chiropractic care and physiotherapy twice a week had eased it... however it's back and worse than ever. One of the underlying issues is my curvy spine - see Scoliosis posting in January 2010 - however my new x-rays show that I've developed bone spurs on my lower three vertebrae. When explaining to people what bone spurs are, I usually say that my vertebrae are growing little horns or beaks, which will eventually fuse together. It's worrying to me that at 30 years old I am experiencing so much pain, which is why tomorrow I will be going for a consultation on surgery to remove these little devil horns - I'm hoping that they will also provide me with some non-surgical options, however non-surgical treatment will only prevent further degeneration as bone spurs are irreversible. Just for my own sanity, I'm planning to do a little research on the topic, so today's question is: what is the process of removing vertebral bone spurs?A:
Bone spurs, also known as osteophytes, are bony projections that develop along the edges of bones. The bone spurs themselves aren't painful, but they can rub against nearby nerves and bones, causing pain.
Bone spurs are commonly caused by osteoarthritis, however can also be signs of:
- Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). This condition causes bony growths to form on the ligaments of the spine.
- Spondylosis. In this condition, osteoarthritis and bone spurs cause degeneration of the bones in your neck (cervical spondylosis) or your lower back (lumbar spondylosis).
- Spinal stenosis. Bone spurs can contribute to a narrowing of the bones that make up the spine (spinal stenosis), putting pressure on the spinal cord.
As for treatment, there are two typical surgical procedures used to remove bone spurs - open procedure or arthroscopic surgery. Open surgery is where the doctor makes an incision and then pulls back the skin and muscle tissue to expose the spurs. Removal is achieved through chiselling the spurs down to the main bone. Arthroscopic surgery isn't as invasive as open surgery - the doctor will make several small incisions in the skin and will insert a tiny camera and special surgical tools to chip away the spurs.
Through my research, I came across a natural remedy for removal of bone spurs - apple cider vinegar. Apparently, a mixture of apple juice, grape juice and apple cider vinegar consumed daily can help the body to break down the bone spurs and absorb the excess calcium.
Other treatments include: chiropractic care, physiotherapy, pilates, yoga and the McKenzie technique. These treatments are excellent in pain relief and preventing further deterioration of the spine, however will not remove the existing bone spurs.
I'm a little scared for this consultation tomorrow, but it's got to be done.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment