Spondylosis

As you get older, parts of your body start to break down and degenerate. It’s a natural part of the aging process that everyone faces at some point, but it’s also a process that is unique for every individual. For some, the ears are the first thing to go. For others, sight starts to fade with images becoming blurry and indiscernible. When degenerative changes target the spine, resulting in bone spurs and damaged intervertebral discs, it is referred to as spondylosis.

The spine is a complex piece of our human anatomy. It not only provides vital support and flexibility, it houses a large portion of the nervous system and serves as the information highway for messages travelling from the brain to other parts of the human body. Walking, sitting up, shaking hands, and lifting a fork to your mouth are all impossible without a functional spine. These very same activities — simple, routine activities — can be greatly hindered when an individual is suffering from spondylosis.

What Causes Spondylosis?

Spondylosis is an umbrella term for wear and tear in the spine that occurs as you age. Typically, this happens in one of several ways, including:

Bone Spurs
Degenerative Discs
Osteoarthritis

Over time, the discs in your spine become dehydrated, causing them to shrink. This can lead to bone spurs along the edges of the bones in the spine. Similarly, degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis, which both create issues in the vertebral joints, can lead to pain, numbness, and stiffness in the back. Ligaments that have become stiff and herniated discs may cause symptoms of spondylosis. Although all of these degenerative conditions affect the spine in slightly different ways, they all fall under the definition of spondylosis.

Spondylosis can affect the cervical spine, thoracic spine, or lumbar spine. The cervical spine, which encompasses your neck, and the lumbar spine, which makes up your lower back, are the two regions most susceptible to spondylosis. In fact, thoracic spondylosis commonly causes no symptoms making it difficult to diagnose unless spondylosis affects other regions of the spine. There is a second type of lumbar spondylosis, referred to as lumbosacral spondylosis, that targets the lumbar spine and sacral spine at the same time, too. When evidence of spondylosis is found in multiple regions of the spine, the patient will have to be treated for multilevel spondylosis.

If you are diagnosed with spondylosis, take a deep breath and relax — everything is going to be fine. Spondylosis is a part of the aging process that everyone experiences. Over 80 percent of adults over the age of forty who have had x-rays taken of them show signs of spondylosis. Damaged ligaments, spinal wear, bone spurs, and even degenerative discs can all be managed through minimally invasive surgical procedures, ensuring that spondylosis doesn’t stop you from living a high-quality life.

Common Symptoms of Spondylosis

The symptoms of spondylosis varies from person to person depending on the nature of their condition and the portion of the spine being affected. While some individuals will experience no symptoms, most people experience pain, stiffness, tingling, or numbness in their arms, hands, legs, or feet. Spondylosis can also have a negative effect on coordination when walking or balancing and lead to varying degrees of incontinence. The most noticeable symptom is pain, which is most commonly felt in the neck, shoulder, arms, chest, or upper abdomen. If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your medical provider to learn more about your treatment options.

Are You at Risk for Spondylosis?

Whether or not an individual is at risk for spondylosis can be determined by examining a number of factors, including:

Age: Is the patient over the age of 40? Do they show signs of natural spinal degeneration?
Medical History: Has the patient suffered a neck or back injury in the past? Does anything in their medical history suggest a proclivity to spinal injuries?
Family History: Does the patient’s genetic makeup play a role in their susceptibility to spondylosis? What are their family members’ experiences with spinal degeneration?
Occupation: Does the patient work in a physically demanding occupation that requires repetitive movements, awkward positioning of the neck and torso, or excessive stress on the spine? How long has the patient worked in their industry? Has the patient experienced work-related injuries in the past? Were they reported or left untreated?
Other: Does the patient smoke? Has the patient attempted to address their symptoms through consertive treatments?

How Do We Treat Spondylosis?

Spondylosis is commonly asymptomatic, which means many cases of spondylosis go undiagnosed in the United States. However, when symptoms do occur, patients have several treatment options that can be employed to assist recovery. The most commonly used medications are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; however, the over-the-counter variety may not be strong enough to relieve pain. Muscle relaxants can be used to treat individuals experiencing neck spasms from cervical spondylosis and antidepressants can help relieve chronic pain when other treatments have proven ineffective.

Corticosteroid injections are another common non-surgical treatment that can be used to mitigate symptoms of spondylosis. Some patients will have the best luck with physical therapy; however, physical therapy is usually most effective when integrated into the post-surgical recovery process.

When conservative treatments fail to produce the results patients are looking for, orthopedic surgery can be performed to address the root of the problem, whether it be a herniated disk, bone spur, or something else entirely.

Is Surgery Required?

While many patients experience improvements from conservative treatment methodologies, severe degeneration may require surgery to repair the damaged portion of the spine. The most commonly used surgical procedures are laminectomy, discectomy, foraminotomy, osteophyte removal, and corpectomy.

The goal of surgery is to create additional space for the nerves in the spine; ideally, enough space to avoid compression and entrapment of the nerve roots. Surgery may be required to remove a herniated disk, shave down or remove bone spurs, excise a part of the vertebra, of fuse two segments of the spine. Consult your medical provider to discuss your options for spondylosis treatment.

What Happens If Spondylosis Is Left Untreated?

If left untreated, it’s hard to predict exactly how spondylosis will affect an individual’s lifestyle. Pain may come and go randomly or persist for days at a time, and attempts to rest and recover may be thwarted by the fact that bed rest actually inhibits the recovery process. Since spinal degeneration is progressive, it will technically get worse over time; however, there’s no assurance that symptoms will disrupt an individual’s quality of life unless spondylosis results in a herniated disc, bone spurs, or other condition requiring surgery. It’s safe to assume that, in most cases, untreated spondylosis will lead to the gradual weakening of the spine and eventually pain and discomfort.

Schedule a Surgical Consultation in Florida

Although spondylosis can be asymptomatic, there’s no ignoring the fact that the natural degeneration of the spine can cause a host of problems for adults over the age of forty. If you suffer from pain, stiffness, tingling, or numbness in your arms, legs, feet, buttocks, or somewhere else in your body, it could be indicative of an underlying problem in your spine. Fortunately, relief is attainable with the help of Florida Surgery Consultants.

Our experienced team of orthopedic surgeons have helped countless patients overcome spinal conditions in Tampa, Lakewood Ranch, Ocala, Gainesville and Lakeland. Our individualized approach to treatment is designed to match patients with the best surgical solution for their specific condition. Our aim is to provide long-term results for those whose lives have been limited by pain. To learn more about your treatment options for spondylosis, contact Florida Surgery Consultants today!