Learning about Back Pain |
As the cartilage in the knees, hips and spine ages, it changes and diminishes, says Dr. Georgiy Brusovanik, Spine Surgeon with Baptist Health South Florida.
However, in the majority of patients those changes don’t cause pain, but in some percentage of patients they cause debilitating pain.
The pain is usually something internal, he says.
Transcript
SO MANY PEOPLE OUT THERE CAN SAY, I HAVE IT, MY MOM HAS IT, MY GRANDPARENTS HAD THE. WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE IT? IT’S A HUGE QUESTION, I KNOW. > WELL, WE AGE. THE ALTERNATIVE JUST ISN’T ACCEPTABLE. BUT AGING COMES WITH A PRICE. JUST AS THE CARTILAGE IN THE KNEES AGES, HIT CARTILAGE, THE CARTILAGE IN OUR SPINE CHANGES AND DIMINISHES. IT IS A WHOLE CONSTELLATION OF THINGS THAT, IN THE MAJORITY OF PATIENTS, DO NOT CAUSE PAIN. BUT IN SOME PERCENTAGE OF PATIENTS, CAUSES EXCRUCIATING, DEBILITATING PAIN. > IS WAIT A FACTOR, AS WELL AS POSTURE?. SLOUCHING OVER TO KEEP THE BACK STRONG? > IT IS HARD TO BE OBJECTIVE ABOUT THE ANSWER. MY OPINION IS, FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN OVERWEIGHT THEIR WHOLE LIFE AND SUDDENLY HAS A NEW BACK PAIN, YOU CAN’T BLAME YOUR WEIGHT. FOR SOMEONE WHO SLOUCHES, YOU COULD SAY, WELL, IF THEY SLOUCH BECAUSE OF A DEFORMITY, THEN WHICH CAME FIRST? I DON’T REALLY LIKE TO BLAME THE PATIENTS. IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE FOR SOMEONE WHO LIVES THEIR NORMAL LIFE TO THEN BE THE CAUSE OF THEIR PAIN.