Spinal Disorders, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Improvised Treatment

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Spinal Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment and Improvised Treatment
The spine is a column of 26 bones in an adult body with 24 separate vertebrae interspaced with cartilage, and then the sacrum and coccyx in addition.
The spine has an extremely important part to play in the human body as it:
1. Supports the upper body’s weight;
2. Provides posture while allowing for movement and flexibility; and
3. Protects the spinal cord
Any spinal disorders can cause problems for the patient the spine is needed for movement and support of the body.
The Focused Spine Assessment is an important tool to assess any spinal injury or disorder.
If the patient is awake, ambulatory, and able to safely self-evacuate, the person should exercise caution during the evacuation to avoid additional trauma to the patient's spine.
The ideal evacuation would occur within 6-24 hours to correspond with the swelling curve.
When a spinal injury patient enters a hospital, one of the first requirements is to appraise the extent of the injury.
Up until recently, the main method to assess a spinal cord injury was using physical tests that measure a patient's capability to feel and move their arms and legs.
This is not always a very accurate indication, particularly immediately after an injury.
Very often, spinal injury patients have other injuries:
1. They may have broken arms or legs,
2. They may have a head injury
3. They may be unconscious
There are several reasons why it can be hard to get a good examination on patients
A new protocol is based on a recent study that found the most important factor in a patient's recovery is actually related to blood pressure in the spine.
The spinal cord regulates blood pressure in the body, so if it is injured, the body may not be able to maintain adequate blood pressure.
Doctors actually measured each individual patient's blood flow to the spine.
Then doctors only artificially raised blood pressure as required to reach a patient's unique resting pressure.
Timing of Surgery
The other game-changing part of the new protocol is getting patients who require surgery into the operating room as fast as possible, ideally within 12 hours of the injury.
In earlier years within 48 hours was regarded as early surgery for spinal injuries.
The time wasted could have been for such things as waiting to evaluate a patient's mobility when he or she finally wakes up.
The urgency of the new protocol benefited patients enormously.
Intra-Articular Injections
When oral analgesics are not readily available, intra-articular injections may be used.
The injections are relatively easy to do at the knee, elbow, shoulder, and any joint that is dislocated.
However, they are not very good at providing immediate analgesia.
Although immediate analgesic effects may not be significant, intra-articular morphine injections can result in up to 3 days of analgesia due to its low lipid solubility and the joint’s low blood flow.
When local anesthetics are more readily available than other analgesics, postoperative infusions of local anesthetics can reduce pain.
There are several conservative (non-surgical) treatment methods available that are the first line of treatment to help relieve the pain and stiffness caused by spinal arthritis and related disc degeneration.
Helpful first line pain management techniques are rest, heat and cold therapy and various medications for reducing pain and inflammation.
Many patients will need to regularly employ a combination of all three techniques in order to be able to focus on rehabilitation, exercise and healthy daily activities.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Spinal Disorders
Chapter 2 Osteoarthritis
Chapter 3 Rheumatoid Arthritis
Chapter 4 Ankylosing Spondylosis
Chapter 5 Spinal Stenosis
Chapter 6 Scoliosis
Chapter 7 Kyphosis<

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Aug 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463032800

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Spinal Disorders,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Improvised Treatment

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2019 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Spinal Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment and Improvised Treatment which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic

(What You Need to Treat Spinal Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment and Improvised Treatment)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Spinal Disorders

There can be many medical problems that can affect the spinal bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles.

Bone disorders may involve:

1. Bone deformities

2. Bone infections

3. Bone tumors

4. Fractures

Spinal deformities

Joint problems may include:

1. Arthritis

2. Bursitis

3. Dislocation

4. Joint pain

5. Joint swelling or inflammation

6. Ligament tears

Spine

1. Herniated (slipped) disk

2. Infection of the spine

3. Injury to the spine

4. Scoliosis

5. Spinal stenosis

6. Spinal tumor

7. Fractures

8. Spinal cord injuries

Diagnosis

Imaging procedures can help diagnose or even treat many spinal disorders.

1. Arthrogram (joint x-ray)

2. Bone scans

3. Computed tomography (CT) scan

4. Discography

5. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan

6. X-rays

Treatment

Occasionally, the treatment involves injections of medicine into the painful region.

This may involve:

1. Corticosteroid injections into joints, tendons, and ligaments, and around the spine

2. Hyaluronic acid injection to help relieve arthritis pain

3. Surgical procedures used in the treatment of orthopedics include:

4. Arthroscopic surgeries

5. Cartilage repair or resurfacing procedures

6. Fracture care

7. Arthroplasty

8. Ligament reconstructions

9. Repair of torn ligaments and tendons

10. Spine surgery, including diskectomy, foraminotomy, laminectomy, and spinal fusion

Newer spinal procedures are:

1. Minimally invasive surgery

2. Advanced external fixation

3. Use of bone graft substitutes and bone-fusing protein

Spinal Injuries

Back injuries are one of the most frequent and costly work-related disorders in the world.

Lower-back pain is responsible for many days of lost work, higher number of workers-compensation claims, higher monetary business losses, and undue suffering every day.

Many back injuries can be prevented by practicing prevention for back health including using ergonomically correct chairs and equipment, good posture, and regular exercise and conditioning.

Also the patient should always practice good body mechanics and use proper lifting techniques to protect the spine and prevent back strain and injuries.

Proper lifting technique involves these:

1. The person should always stand close to the weight or load in order to reduce excessive strain on the back muscles.

The person should try to estimate which direction the load will move after lifting so that he or she can position the feet to allow for this movement without twisting the trunk of the body.

2. The person should place one foot firmly alongside the load to be lifted, and the other just behind the object with the heels flat, in order to have a wider, more stable base from which to lift.

3. The person should bend the knees and squat down.

Keeping the back erect, the person should grasp the load and use the leg muscles to lift the object.

4. The person should make sure to grip the load firmly from underneath.

The person should use the entire hand rather than just the fingers.

The person should keep the arms straight using the shoulder muscles to help lift the weight.

5. The person should stand and lift, straightening the legs gradually from a squatting to an erect position.

The person should avoid jerking when he or she lifts and setting down a load too quickly.

6. The person should carry the load close to the body, as near as he or she is sure of the own center of balance, keeping the back erect.

7. Turning should only be done by using the whole frame, not just the trunk.

Twisting places the load outside the center of balance and strains muscles not intended for lifting.

8. To lower the load, the person should reverse the lifting operation.

With the back straight, the person should bend the legs at the knees to a squat position, place the load down, withdraw the hands from the object, and stand up using the same method as lifting a load, using the legs and keeping the back straight.

9. Only one person should give the directions for the team, whether it is two or more that are lifting and carrying a load.

The load needs to be well balanced and distributed evenly.

10. When the person needs to raise a load to shoulder height or higher, he or she should lift it first to about waist height, then rest one end of it on a ledge; if necessary, shift the position of the hands to accomplish this and push the load straight up.

The person should reverse the process when lowering objects.

11. The person should always keep the chin up while lifting, since the back is likely to be straighter and the ability to lift