In our last blog post we looked at how pancreatic cancer and back pain from spinal stenosis may cause confusion during diagnosis. This time around we’re looking at the other types of cancer that may trigger back pain, helping you spot signs of trouble early on so that you have a better chance of beating cancer. Continue reading “Back Pain and Cancer (Part Two)” »
Sometimes back pain is just back pain, but other times it can belie a more serious condition, even cancer. If you have niggling back pain, other aches and pains, particularly abdominal pain, and are losing weight then it’s definitely time to talk to your physician as these kinds of symptoms can mean that it’s not just muscle strain causing that back pain, it’s cancer. Continue reading “Back Pain and Cancer – How Worried Should You Be?” »
Spinal shock was a term first coined in the 18th Century to describe the symptoms of acute spinal cord injury. These symptoms include a loss of sensation accompanied by motor paralysis and loss of reflexes which usually recover to some degree over time.
In those with spinal shock, reflexes in the spinal cord caudal (below the site of injury) are usually depressed or entirely absent; these states are known as hyporeflexia and areflexia, respectively. Rostral reflexes (above the site of SCI) are, however, usually unaffected by spinal shock. Continue reading “Spinal Shock – Symptoms, Phases, and Recovery” »
The human body has some pretty advanced features but, unfortunately, evolution hasn’t quite caught up with many of our modern daily habits such as spending most of the day sitting in an office drinking coffee and then heading to the gym after work. What this means is that sometimes the spine and sport do not mix well, leading to injuries and back pain and even to early onset of degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis. Continue reading “The Spine and Sport” »
Pain in the back is often accompanied by hip pain but the connection between the two is anything but straightforward. Does one cause the other, or are hip pain and back pain both symptoms of spinal stenosis? How can you tell if your hip pain is really stemming from your spine? Continue reading “Back Pain and Hip Pain” »