SPINE Osteoarthritis - BUMMER

The doc sent a note saying that my x-rays showed arthritis especially between 2 vertabrae. I saw that the gap was quite small compared to the others. This is where the pain comes from.

I'm a little bummed because it seems there might not be much you can do. I'm at an age where you will start to see this, but my specific condition looks worse than a normal wear and tear. :(

This is a good article explaining it.




Osteoarthritis Complete Treatment Guide - Spine-health.com

Osteoarthritis complete treatment guide

Osteoarthritis of the spine
While there is currently no proven treatment to stop or slow the progression of osteoarthritis in the spine, there are treatments to alleviate the pain and other associated symptoms, and for most people the condition will not become debilitating. Some patients with osteoarthritis have minimal or no pain, and may not need treatment. Most people who require treatment will benefit from a combination of lifestyle changes such as exercise, weight reduction, and smoking cessation. Most treatment plans for osteoarthritis focus on controlling the pain and improving the patient’s ability to function. Medication is typically used to reduce the inflammation, which in turn reduces the pain and stiffness. In only the most severe cases will surgery be necessary to treat pain and disability from osteoarthritis. Medical practitioners often refer to osteoarthritis in the spine as spinal arthritis, degenerative joint disease, or arthritis of the facet joints.

Spinal arthritis is relatively common and is most likely to occur in people over age fifty. It represents an ongoing, degenerative process in the spine, and may be associated with a number of other degenerative spinal conditions. In particular, osteoarthritis is associated with degenerative discs in the spine. Degenerative discs and osteoarthritis often occur hand in hand because the disc and facet joints (the joints in the back affected by osteoarthritis) are both part of the same three-joint complex. It is thought that degenerating discs can place undue stress on the facet joints, thus over time leading to degeneration and formation of osteoarthritis in the facet joints (also called zygapophyseal joints). This may be why the two degenerative conditions are so often seen together. If the disc as well as the facet joints become painful as a result of degenerative changes in the spine, the condition is often called spondylosis. However, degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis are different conditions and can occur separately: one can have degenerative discs without any facet osteoarthritis; or one can have facet osteoarthritis without degenerative discs.


Other anatomical markers of disc degeneration that often occur in conjunction with osteoarthritis—and may or may not cause pain or other symptoms—include:

Synovial cysts. Over time, degeneration of the facet joints in the lower back can result in formation of a fluid-filled sac called a synovial cyst. These cysts are benign in and of themselves, but if they put pressure on the spinal canal they can cause symptoms of spinal stenosis.

Bone spurs (osteophytes). It is thought (though not proven) that over time the combination of disc degeneration and small amounts of instability can cause bone spurs to form. If the bone spurs impinge on the spinal canal, this can cause pain and symptoms from spinal stenosis. It should be noted that bone spurs are simply radiographic markers of degeneration, and are not in and of themselves painful (unless they pinch a nerve root).

Osteoarthritis of the spine is unlike arthritis of the hip, knee and other joints, as the pain, aches, tiredness and stiffness does not come from just the facet joints but often also from the degenerated discs and inhibition of the spinal extensor muscles. No actual swelling of the facet joint has been demonstrated, but degeneration of the facet joint impacts the many anatomical structures surrounding it in the spine and it is thought that there is an inflammatory component to the condition.

The keys to managing pain and stiffness from osteoarthritis (the degenerating motion segments) are to get an accurate diagnosis of what is the underlying cause of the pain and proactively start treatment.

Accurate diagnosis. Most people over the age of 40 will have signs of degeneration in the spine; however, not all of these people will have pain or other symptoms. To correctly treat the patient’s pain, it is critical to first identify the actual underlying cause of the patient’s pain. For example, the patient may have a degenerative disc and bone spurs, but it is the osteoarthritis in the facet joints that is causing the patient’s pain on motion. In this case, it would not be necessary to treat the degenerative disc or bone spurs, but rather just to focus on alleviating the pain originating from the arthritic facet joints.

Proactive treatment. The best proactive treatment to help manage symptoms from osteoarthritis is an active exercise program that emphasizes stretching. Stretching the hip muscles, back joints and hamstrings on a daily basis helps maintain the motion of the spine. Many patients will feel better in an active yoga or pilates program, or other gentle exercise program. Keeping the joints mobile will help them stay healthy.

Spinal arthritis can occur in any part of the spine. This article focuses in particular on osteoarthritis in the low back (lumbar spine), rather than cervical osteoarthritis (arthritis in the neck) or other areas of osteoarthritis.

Weekend

I had one of those really nice and really busy weekends. Weather was perect. Woke up at 6:30 and was golfing at the tourney at Grand Casino with Rod by 8:30. It was cool and bright when we started, beautiful day all day long. Had some beers and a good buzz by the time we headed back in the afternoon.

And then we did a couple hour scope-out of the 3 mile up river from my place. Dropped the canoe in at 65 and floated. We found 4 good spots that we will fish in the spring. Used a jig with crawlers, but didn't catch anything. We weren't trying alot, just checking things out. I had a few bites though.

We rolled in to the 'front yard' landing with no time to spare. Aaron and Sandra were meeting us at our house for a dinner date. Went and got the Aztek and drive back and they were here hanging out. Tamara gave me that look... :) Got ready quick and he headed to Chicos. Had a nice time and then hung at their house to watch the Badgers beat Iowa on Sat night national footnball.

So Sunday the plan was to take the boys to the Renaisaince Festival. Got moving and made the 2 hour drive and Max really thought it was cool. He was a trouper as was Reid. We had a nice day with the high at 85 which was close to record high. The funniest thing that embaressed Max, was where I gave max a quarter to throw into a guys hat that would bang a tin foil pie tin on his head. Told max that he would go 'ding' on his head as he did that for other kids. So Max took the quarter and tried to drop it in the hat and the guy moved it just in time... :) Then max picked it up and tried again and he moved it again. 3 times. Max had a smile and we urged him to try again. So then he put it in there quick and got it in and the guy did the 'ding' on Max's head and then his own. Lots of folks laughed... Max got embarrassed. We told him it was fun. He's gettting better, but still reaaly gets upset when people laugh at him. I'm sure he will NOT be a comedian when he grows up. ;)

'Reid is growing like a weed.'
And lately I call him:
'Reid-O the Torpedo'

-bk loves the wife and kids. life is good. Amen.

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . The Power of Six | PBS

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . The Power of Six | PBS

The thought is that Google will become an ISP. Could happen and its been talked about for a while now. What does that mean for stock?

Hard to say short term, even hard to say long term, but if it did happen similar to this, then I could see GOOG going up a bit, but the potential bigger thing is, ATT and Verizon would go down and Sprint could go up. Sprint already has a few partnetships with Google so you never know.

A good longer term bet might be to buy Sprint now. Maybe short ATT Verizon later.