| Our hospital is thinking of buying equipment to help nurses lift and move patients, but it's a big investment. Does this equipment really help nurses' backs? | 11 years 21 weeks ago | 351 |
| Our hospital is looking to buy more patient handling equipment. Is there a difference between manual and mechanical equipment in terms of preventing back problems for health care workers? | 11 years 21 weeks ago | 351 |
| Our daughter has a six-month old son who was diagnosed with a type of dwarfism called achondroplasia. Now that our grandson is starting to sit up, our daughter has been told to put a special support on him to help his spine. She rarely does this. What could happen to his little spine if she doesn't follow the doctor's instructions? | 4 years 41 weeks ago | 360 |
| Our 22-year old son was just diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. We've been told this runs in families. Should everyone else be tested? What's the next step? | 4 years 19 weeks ago | 526 |
| Our 16-year old son pulled a back muscle running track. The physical therapist who saw him did an adjustment to the rib and he was immediately better. I'm concerned because he's not doing the exercises they gave him. I'm worried the problem will come back. | 6 years 27 weeks ago | 351 |
| Our 16-year old son has been complaining about being stiff in the morning. He frequently says his back hurts. His grandfather had a condition called anylosing spondylitis. Is it possible this is what's going on? | 6 years 1 week ago | 352 |
| Ok, they can do hip, knee, shoulder replacements. If someone has severe back pain because the vertebrae can't hold up any longer, why can't they do vertebrae replacements? | 4 years 23 weeks ago | 537 |
| My young daughter wants to compete in gymnastics. Will it hurt her low back? | 12 years 13 weeks ago | 552 |
| My wife was just diagnosed with a severe vertebral compression fracture. Except for the fact that her pain level is high, what makes for a "severe" vertebral fracture? | 6 years 47 weeks ago | 351 |
| My wife is an accountant and is advising me to have back surgery for a disc problem simply because it will save us money in the long run. She figures that way I'll be back at my job sooner, bringing in a paycheck again. Waiting for it to heal on its own will just take too long and cost too much in lost wages. Surgery is a big decision. Is she right? | 4 years 41 weeks ago | 350 |
| My wife has a condition called syringomyelia. Over the years it has gotten worse and now she has scoliosis, too. She's finally decided to have surgery to fix the problem. Will the scoliosis go away after surgery? | 6 years 8 weeks ago | 351 |
| My wife had spine surgery to remove a disk. The hospital bill shows she had one day of antibiotics. Is this a mistake? Aren't antibiotics taken for 10 days? | 7 years 1 day ago | 350 |
| My wife had spine surgery that went well but later she developed a bad infection next to the bone. The wound has never healed, and the surgeon is suggesting a new treatment called VAC. What can you tell me about it? | 6 years 3 weeks ago | 348 |
| My wife had a laminectomy to take pressure off a herniated disc. Afterwards she got a terrible infection along the incision. We suspect the bug came from the hospital. Could anything have been done to keep this from happening? | 5 years 17 weeks ago | 394 |
| My wife and I have both had back injuries and years of back pain. After therapy and surgery, my wife still has trouble climbing stairs, getting in and out of the car, and even sitting for very long. Although I have returned to work, my pain level goes way up by the end of the day. We have three children and wonder if they will have weak backs. Is there anything we can do to help them keep healthy backs? | 11 years 10 weeks ago | 354 |
| My very elderly mother (93 years old) often complains of back and neck pain. It seems to come and go, only lasting a day or two. And it's never in the same place twice in a row. Is this normal or should we take her to the doctor for this? | 9 years 11 weeks ago | 353 |
| My uncle has a condition called ankylosing spondylitis. He's starting to be so bent over he can't see where he is going. Can't anything be done for this problem? | 6 years 18 weeks ago | 389 |
| My surgeon tells me she is going to use a minimally invasive way to do my spinal fusion. I get the idea that I'll have a smaller incision. But if they can do these operations now with a smaller incision, why didn't they do so years ago? | 3 years 50 weeks ago | 491 |
| My surgeon has warned me that a spinal fusion can lead to degenerative changes in the rest of the spine. What does this amount to anyway? | 5 years 7 weeks ago | 369 |
| My surgeon carefully went over each step of the spinal fusion procedure I am going to have next week. I will have bone from a bone bank grafted in to help with the fusion. I have osteoporosis myself and can't donate my own bone. I did hear something about the risk of infection but the information was all so new and flew right past me. Is the infection from the bone graft because it's donated bone or does it develop from something else? | 3 years 26 weeks ago | 709 |
| My son is supposed to participate in a class about back care at school. What kind of information do they give children in these classes? | 11 years 8 weeks ago | 363 |
| My sister has had three steroid injections into her spine. She hasn't gotten any pain relief. We tell her enough is enough. She should quit getting this treatment. Should she have another one? | 4 years 45 weeks ago | 347 |
| My sister has chronic headaches that seem to be connected with neck and shoulder muscle tension. She's going to try something called trigger point injections. What are these? How do they work? | 4 years 20 weeks ago | 497 |
| My sister has a special device in her spine to help with severe pain she has from a failed surgery. Now she has to have a second operation because the unit 'migrated.' How does a spinal stimulator migrate? | 6 years 36 weeks ago | 356 |
| My sister had a spinal fusion back a few weeks ago. She said they used graft extenders because it was a long fusion and she didn't have enough bone of her own. Could I have donated bone for her? | 4 years 31 weeks ago | 452 |
| My shoulder has been hurting me for a long time but I'm not sure what to do about it or what it could be. I haven't hurt myself by falling or anything. Can a doctor do anything anyway? | 5 years 6 weeks ago | 470 |
| My provider has recommended against X-rays or MRI of my low back. Why would this be? | 5 years 15 weeks ago | 393 |
| My partner has been HIV positive for 10 years now and was just diagnosed with TB. He's had so many tests already. Now they want to do an MRI scan of his entire body. Is this really necessary? | 6 years 12 weeks ago | 365 |
| My orthotist is helping fashion a brace for me following spinal fusion surgery for adult scoliosis. It will be a plastic TLSO. Are there any special tricks or tips I should show/tell him? | 4 years 44 weeks ago | 379 |
| My orthopedic surgeon has warned me that there's a one in five chance that I'll need a second spine surgery after having the first operation. I don't know if this means I shouldn't have the first operation or not. How should I think about this? | 6 years 12 weeks ago | 350 |
