The human spinal column is made up of 33 bones - 7 vertebrae in the cervical region, 12 in the thoracic region, 5 in the lumbar region, 5 in the sacral region and 4 in the coccygeal region. It is a safe casing for the delicate Spinal Cord which regulates the functions of the body.
A large number of patients these days come to our doctors with complaints of back pain and most of these patients are in the age bracket of 20-40 years. Most of these problems are caused by desk jobs, bad posture while working on office computers, crouching on drawing room sofas and sedantary lifestyles.
The best way for avoiding the back pain is regular exercise for strengthing of the spinal and paraspinal muscles. A large number of regular gym goers are also ignorant about the importance of the back muscles and often ignore these muscles as compared to the biceps and chest muscles.
Household work has been transferred to the maids and therefore a large number of housewives also suffer from chronic back pain as the exercise component associated with household work has also been outsourced to the maids.
The Spine is surrounded by many ligaments and muscles to give it strength, however there are various diseases which affect the spine and cause back pain. Some of these diseases are:
Herniated Disc
Spinal Stenois
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Osteoporosis
Vertebral Fractures
Spondylolisthesis
Scoliosis
Scoliosis causes a sideways curve of your backbone, or spine. These curves are often S- or C-shaped. Scoliosis is most common in late childhood and the early teens, when children grow fast. Girls are more likely to have it than boys. It can run in families. Symptoms include leaning to one side and having uneven shoulders and hips.
Herniated Disc
The backbone, or spine, is made up of 26 bones called vertebrae. In between them are soft disks filled with a jelly-like substance. These disks cushion the vertebrae and keep them in place. A herniated disk is a disk that slips out of place or ruptures. If it presses on a nerve, it can cause back pain or sciatica.
Spinal Stenosis
The backbone protects the spinal cord and allows the person to stand and bend. Spinal stenosis causes narrowing in the spine. The narrowing can occur at the center of the spine, in the canals branching off the spine and/or between the vertebrae, the bones of the spine. The narrowing puts pressure on nerves and spinal cord and can cause pain.
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis of the spine. It causes swelling between your vertebrae, which are the disks that make up your spine, and in the joints between your spine and pelvis. Ankylosing spondylitis is an immune disease. The disease is more common and more severe in men. It often runs in families.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones and makes them susceptible to fracture. Fractures due to osteoporosis of the spine usually affect women after the age of 50. The spine is made up of soft trabecular bone, without the tough outer cortical bone covering. This makes the spine more susceptible to fractures.
Vertebral Fractures
A vertebral compression fracture occurs when the bones of the spine become broken due to trauma. Usually the trauma necessary to break the bones of the spine is quite large. In certain circumstances, however, such as in elderly people and in people with cancer, these same bones can break with little or no force. The vertebrae most commonly broken are those in the lower back.
Spinal Tumours
A spinal tumor is a development of unwanted cells in or around the spinal cord. These tumours can be benign i.e. non-cancerous or they may be malignant i.e. cancerous. Spinal tumors can occur inside the cord or in the membranes (meninges) covering the spinal cord or between the meninges and bones of the spine. It may also extend to the blood vessels, bones of the spine, nerve roots or spinal cord cells.
Spondylolisthesis
Spondylolisthesis is a condition in which a bone (vertebra) in the lower part of the spine slips out of the proper position onto the bone below it. Causes of spondylolisthesis include bone diseases, traumatic fractures, and stress fractures (commonly seen in gymnasts).
Our hospitals are located in the northern part of the country specially in the NCR region within a distance of 20-50 kms from the New Delhi airport. Our hospitals are super specialty in the fields of Neurosurgery, Cardiology, Joint Replacement, Cancer Care, Liver and Kidney Transplants and many other brances of medicine. Some of our hospitals specialize only in Joint Replacements and Arthroscopies.
We have the latest MRI, CT Scan, Digital X-Ray, Bone Densitometry (DEXA), Mammography, Ultrasound, Colour Doppler, EMG, NCV, EEGwhich gives us the diagnostic confidence for providing the right treatment.
Modular fully equipped Operation Theatres with Computer Navigation and C-Arm backed by a state of art ICU helps us in providing world class treatment to our patients.
Our doctors include some of the most famous names in the world of medicine when it comes to Joint Replacements and Arthroscopies. Dr Ashok Rajgopal, Dr. J. Maheshwari, Dr Subhash Jangid, Dr Praveen Tittal, are some of the names which command respect all over the world for the kind of work done by them in their lifetime.
Kim Brian from the Sacramento County of California, USA came to India to get Hip Replacement Surgery done. He travelled alone because he could not afford the expenses for an attendant. His surgery was done by Dr IPS Oberoi at Artemis Health Institute. Watch this video where Kim is sharing his experiences.
Mr. Mark Wisman suffered an injury to his knee while driving his pickup. For years he lived in pain and finally landed in India for Total Knee Replacement Surgery to be done by Dr. Ashok Rajgopal at Medanta Medicity. He had some interesting things to say about treatment in India specially the cost of the treatment.
Mr Mphoso got spine surgery done in Pretoria, South Africa in Dec 2016 but did not get relief from back pain. His search ended with Dr Vikas Khaturia in India who performed Revision Spine Surgery at one level and Fusion Surgery at another Level. The surgery was done in July 2017 and the delighted patient has this to say.