How is common neck and back pain different from spinal disease?

Neck pain and back pain are very common conditions among office workers. The cervical and lumbar spine are flexible spinal segments, performing daily activities such as turning and bending. However, because of that flexibility, sitting in the wrong posture, sitting for too long or unbalanced can easily damage internal structures such as discs, ligaments and joints.

Neck pain and back pain are usually limited to a certain location, the neck or back, and can spread slightly to the shoulders or lumbar area. The severity ranges from mild, such as pain and stiffness in the neck when waking up in the morning, to more severe, such as not being able to rotate the neck or back.

In some cases, the patient must walk on one side to relieve pain. This local pain symptom can appear in diseases such as spinal degeneration or disc herniation. When a herniated disc occurs and affects the nerves, pain will spread. If the hernia is in the neck, the pain can spread from the neck to the shoulders and arms, causing numbness and even weakness in the arms. If the hernia is in the back, the pain can spread to the buttocks, thighs and legs, leading to weakness in the leg muscles.

Other diseases also have similar symptoms to rotator cuff disease. Patients may experience pain and numbness in the shoulder and arm, similar to a herniated disc. Back pain can also be caused by sacroiliitis – a disease common in young people and with symptoms similar to disc herniation.

To accurately determine the symptoms of back pain and neck pain as a sign of what disease, you need to go to the hospital for a thorough examination by a doctor, check movement, direction of pain spread and perform necessary tests. Each type of pathology has different diagnostic methods based on symptoms. For example, if you come in with simple back pain with no signs of radiating to your legs or arms, your doctor may use methods such as X-rays or local ultrasound to evaluate the cause and treat it. treat.

When there are signs of suspected disc herniation, causing pain radiating to the legs or arms, the patient needs to undergo more in-depth tests such as CT and MRI. The 3 Tesla MRI system at Tam Anh hospital helps doctors detect diseases and abnormalities in the spine and nervous system quickly and accurately. In addition, the electromyographic system also measures nerve activity and evaluates the level of damage. This technique is useful for cases where pain is not due to disc herniation but may be due to peripheral neuropathy or autologous nerve damage.

After an accurate diagnosis, the doctor provides appropriate treatment, from medical conservation to surgical intervention, depending on the patient’s specific condition. For new or local pain, patients are often treated conservatively with physical therapy, medication or changes in living habits… Only a small portion of patients have symptoms that require specialized treatment. deep and of these, only about 1% actually require surgical intervention. At Tam Anh General Hospital, spine surgeries take place gently and safely, with a very low complication rate thanks to the doctors’ skills and complete equipment.