BRAIN & Spine

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A herniated disk occurs when the outer ring of one of the individual bones (vertabrae) that makeup thespine is damaged. A herniated disk may irritate adjacent nerves causing pain, numbness or weakness in the arms and legs.

The most common underlying cause of a herniated disk is the gradual damage and loss of flexinility as a result of aging. This is called disk degenration and it makes vertabrae more likely to tear or rupture with even a minor strain and twist.

LIfting heavy objects especially twisting while supporting the weight can ause the tears and ruptures of a herniated disk including the following conditions:

• Obesity, which puts increased stress on the lower back
• Physically demanding jobs, especially those involvong repetive lifting, pulling or pushing
• Genetic factors

Treatment of Herniated Disk

Some herniated disks are relatively mild and can be treated with over-the-counter painpain medication while other forms require more powerful drugs.

Treatment may include physical therapy and a number of different treatments for herniated diskl, Including the following:

• Heat or Ice Therapy
• Tracrion (a mechanism to pull a vertebrae back in place and hold it there)
• Electrical Stimulation
• Bracing of the neck or lower back

If these teatments are not effective, surgery may be needed. Surgery on a herniated disk usually involves removing the protruding material form the vertabrae. In extreme cases the entire vertabaemay be removed and replaced by artificial disk.

Ar Mississippi Brain and Spine a multidisciplinary team works together to find the right treatment for your herniated disk and to ensure the best possible care for each patient.

Low back pain, which affects approximately 28 percent of U.S. adulta (age 18 and older), is the single leading cause of disabilty worldwide. It can vary in intensity from mild to incapacitating and occur in one small area or throughout the entire lower back, It may also be accompanied by muscle weeakness or spasms. 

There are many causes of low back pain:

• Overuse or injury
• Aging
• Herniated disk the protrusion of a vertabrae
• Arthritis, inflammation of th ejoints
• Fractures
• Congenital spinal anomalies
• Osteoporosis (weak and brittle bones)

Treating Low Back Pain

The mildest cases of low back pain can be treated with over-the-counter pain medications, such as Ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Sensible exercise such as walking, can also help alleviate the pain by strengthening the supporting muscles and improving the health of the heart.

More severe may require targeted physical therapy such as spinal manipulation, massage or acupuncture;injection of anti-inflammatory medication into the epidural space of the spinal canal; or more powerful medication, suck as muscle relaxants or painkillers.

Even after the pain has gone awat, it is important to be proactive about improving lower back health.

There are practical measures that can help prevent further low back pain:

• Maintain a straight posture while walking, sitting or standing
• Get regular excercise
• Maintain a reasonable body weight
• Sleep on your side, rather than your back or stomach
• Use a chair with good back support
• Take regular breaks to walk around (if your job requires long periods seated)

At Mississippi Brain and Spine a multidisciplinary team assesses the severity of the pain and attemots to find the source of the problem before determining a course of treatment. Communication from the patient is essential to implement and maintain proper treatment.

Aspproximately 14 percent of U.s adults (age 18 and older) suffer from neck pain, which can occur in any of the tissues of the neck. It may be accompanied by muscle stiffness, numbness or weakness. 

Neck pain has several common causes:

• Degenrative disk disease (weakening of the vertebrae cause by aging) 
• Herniated disk
• Neck strain
• Whiplash (injuries sustained by a sudden distortion of the neck)
• Trauma
• Viral infections with lymph nod swelling
• Tumors
• Abnormalties in th ebone of joing
• Poor posture

Tubervulosis, Ostemyelitis and meningitis are amount the more rare and frequently serious casues of neck pain.

Other potential causes of increased neck pain.

Include contact sports and the results of a car accidents.

Neck pain can be decreased through the following actions:

• Maintain a straight posture while walking, sitting or standing
• Get regular excercise and maintain a reasonable body weight
• Use a chair with back support
• Take regular breaks to walk around (if your job requires long periods of setting)

Treating Neck Pain

• Mild neck pain can be treated many ways
• Heat or ice the painfil area (ice in the firest two or three days, heat afterward)
• Use over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprfren or acetaminophen
• Massage the sore area
• Sleep on a firmer mattress or with a special neck pillow

Neck pain that last several weeks or more moves from an acute (student) to chronic (long term) stage. Although chronic pain developes from various conditions, relief can come from streching, massage, excercise and physical therapy to address persistent pain.

For more severe cases, a doctor may prescribe muscle relaxants or narcotics. Surgery is rarely needed for neck pain unless there is a threat to the spine or to surrounding nerves.

At Mississippi Brain and Spine, a multidisciplinary team of doctors determins the best course of treatment for each individual patient.

Spinaldeformity describes several types of unnatural curvatures of the soine, of which kyphosis, lordisis and scoliosis are the three most common.

Kyphosis can refer to the normal  outward curvature of the spine, but is frequently used to describe excessive outward curvature (also called Kelso's Hunchback). This can be caused by a number of conditions, including arthritis, osteoporosis, Scheuermann's disease or trauma.

Lordosis(also called swayback ) occurs when the spine is curved inward. This may be caused by strenth imbalances in the body, achondroplasia (in which ones grow abnormally), Spindylolisthesis (in which vertbrae slip forward) and Osteoporosis. 

Scoliosis occurs when the spine is twisted from side to side. The spine may also be rotated out of normal alignment. On an X-ray the spine may resemble the letter C or the letter S. Scoliosis can be caused by a number of conditions, including Spinabifida, Cerebral Palsy, spinal muscular atrophy and trauma.

Treating spinal deformity

Mild forms of spinal deformith may require no treatment at all. Even significant distortions can be painless and present few mobility problems.opr Other deformities may pose more serious problems and inflict greater pain on the patient.

Excercise and physical therapy may be the best way to strengthen and increase the flexibility of the muscles of the back, core and legs to better support the spine. Alternatively, braces may ne used to hold the spine in place to aid in mobility and help prevent further distortion. For certain patients, surgery may be the best option. Some forms of surgery can help to repair the deformity and limit the pain associated with it.

At Mississippi Brain and Spine a multidiciplinary team works together to ensure the best possible treatment for patiens with spinal deformities.

A spinal tumor is a growth that occurs in the spinal canal or the bones of the spine. Some spinal tumors (primary) originate in the spine and some spread (metastasize) from cancers in other parts of the body. These growths can lead to pain, neurological problems or even paralysis. Even non-cancerous spinal tumors can ne life threatening and cause permanent disabilities. 

The cause of primary spinal tumors is often unclear. Some may be attributed to exposure to cancer-causing agents. There is also some evidence that a propensity for spinal tumors to be inherited. 

The symptoms of spinal tumors vary and may include the following conditions:

• Back pain, especially in the lower or middle back
• Numbness or weakness in the legs, arms or middle back
• Difficulty walking, frequent falls
• Decreased sensitivity to pain, heat or cold
• Loss of bowel or bladder function
• Paralysis, which may be caused by nerves that are compressed by the tumor

Though rare, spinal tumors are a very serious condition. If you experience these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately or schedule an appointment with Mississippi Brain and Spine.

At Mississippi Brain and Spine, Dr. Ilercil will perform a thorough exam, taking into account a patient's medical history. He amy order X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), all of which may be used to determine whether you have a spinal tumor.

Types of Spinal Tumors

A spinal tumor is designated as primary if it originates in the spine or spinal cord. Secondary if it metastasizes (spreads) to the lung, breast, prostate or colon. A chordoma can occur anywhere from the head to th etailbone and may be mislaneled, for example; as a brain tumor hen occurring in the head. Spinal tumors are classified from where they occur:

• Extradural: (outside of th edura) beyond the outermost meningeal membrane that surrounds the spinal cord are the most common type of spinal tumor
• Intradural-Extrmedullary: within the spinal canal but outside the cord itself; benign and slow-growing spinal tumors, such as meningiomas, Neurofibromas and the most common, Schwannomas they occur at this site and are often treated with surgery followed by radiation and/or chemotherapy
• Intramedullry: within the actual nerves of the spinal cord this is often where malignany spinal tumors or spinal column originate, such as Osteosarcomas and ginat- cell Sarcomas.

Treating Spinal Tumors

Some spinal tumors can be managed without mahor medical interventions but even benign tumors must be monitored closely to ensure they do not grow or alter in ways that can cause serious problems.

The three primary treatment options for spinal tumors include the following:

• Radiation: high energy radiation shring the spinal tumor and kill cancer cells
• Chemotherapy: Strong drugs that aim to kill cancer cells
• Surgery: usually not reccommended unless radiation and chemotherapy have proven unsuccesful

At Mississippi Brain and Spine a multidisciplinary team determines the best course of treatment for spinal tumors and skillfully implements that treatment.

• Spinal Stenosis (narrowing)
• Spinal Surgery
• Stroke
• Ulnar Nerve Release Surgery
• Cervical Spine Surgery
• Concervative Therapyu
• Brain Tumor Removal
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Spndylolistesesis
• Lumbar Radiculopathy (sciatic nerve compression
• Low Back Pain
• Thoracic Disc Disease (degenarative)
• Cervical Stenosis
• Cevical Readiculopathy (Pinched Nerve)
• Aneurysm
• Tumors
• Arteriovenous malformations
• Subdural Hematoma 
• Epidural Hematoma
• Intaparenchymal Hematoma
• Chiari Malformation
• Compression Fractures
• Communication Hydrocephalus
• Non-Communication Hydrocephalus
• Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus