Arthritis is a common cause of spinal (neck & back) pain. The most common type of spinal arthritis is osteoarthritis (OA) of the spine, that involves wear and tear or degeneration of the spine. In this blog we will discuss what arthritis of the spine feels like.
Watch this video for more details on "What is spinal arthritis?"
The first sign of arthritis is pain in the spine (neck/back). If your arthritis is present in the lower back, you will have pain in and around the lower back. This pain maybe localised to the spine or may present as a diffuse pain around the lower back tha may extend up to the bottom and hips. It is not uncommon for spinal arthritis to be mistaken for hip joint pain. If your arthritis is present in the neck, you will have pain in and shoulder area, sometimes extending into the shoulder blades and mid back.
The second sign of spinal arthritis is nerve pain (tingling, numbness, burning, heaviness or sensitivity to touch). The bony spurs from arthritis can pinch or irritate the nerves that exit the spine and lead to nerve pain. In the lower back this can be seen as nerve pain in the bottom all the way to the feet and toes (known as lumbar radiculopathy). A typical example of this is sciatica, that is caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve in the lumbar spine. In the neck it is seen as nerve pain anywhere from the shoulder to the finger tips (known as cervical radiculopathy).
The third sign of spinal arthritis is stiffness in the spine. It is most prominent in the mornings. As the day goes by the stiffness may get better. Stretching also helps to reduce the stiffness. The next sign of spinal arthritis is closely related to the morning stiffness. It is loss of flexibility. However this is felt throughout the day and doesn’t get better with movement. An example of this is if you could easily pick up something from the floor prior to spinal arthritis it may not be possible now or cause pain or discomfort to do so. Lack of flexibility can be a symptom of many other spinal problems but it is commonly seen with arthritis of the spine.
The fourth sign of spinal arthritis is crepitus or clicking sound which is seen specially with end of range spinal movements such as bending down to tie your shoe laces or turn your neck to look behind you.
If you suffer from spinal arthritis and have experienced these symptoms you can learn how to manage your back pain and nerve pain, join my free community where we have done a free training on Simple Solutions to Manage your Back/Nerve Pain.
If you like this blog and want to be notified about new blogs as soon as they are published, subscribe to my mailing list below.
I would love to see you around the internet! For other places you can explore more about me: https://withswati.com/page/link
0 Comments