News — chronic pain

Spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spaces in your spine, can compress your spinal cord and nerve roots exiting each vertebra. Symptoms include back and/or neck pain, and numbness, tingling and weakness in your arms and legs. As people age, the ligaments of the spine can thicken and harden (called calcification). Bones and joints may also enlarge, and bone spurs (called osteophytes) may form. Bulging or herniated discs are also common. Spondylolisthesis (the slipping of one vertebra onto another) also occurs and leads to compression. When these conditions occur in the spinal area, they can cause the spinal canal to narrow,...

Chronic pain can be caused by dysfunctional nerves and or inflammation. It may last for weeks, months, or even years. The original cause may have been an injury, structural abnormality, repetitive use/motion trauma or an infection, such as the shingles virus. Sometimes a clear cause remains undiscovered. Pain starts in receptor nerve cells found beneath the skin and in organs throughout the body. These receptor cells send messages along nerve pathways to the spinal cord, which then carries the message to the brain.  When pain becomes such a problem that it interferes with your life's work and normal activities, you...