Pontypridd Osteopathic Clinic

Newsletter: Summer 2008

9 Gelliwastad Road, Pontypridd, CF37 2BW  Telephone: 01443 485302

www.pontypriddosteopaths.co.uk

Company No. 4705315 Reg. in England and Wales.  Reg. Off., 9 Gelliwastad Road, CF37 2BW

Hopefully by the time you read this Summer will have arrived and we can welcome all you patients out there who have overdone the DIY and gardening!!! And for those of you who have overdone the sunbathing try our aloe vera gelly to soothe the sun burn!

SPINAL STENOSIS is a narrowing of the central spinal canal or the areas of the spine where the nerve roots exist (neuro foramina).  This narrowing is most often caused by arthritis and therefore is most often found in the older age groups.  Spinal stenosis may be caused by other factors such as injuries, infections, tumours or congenital abnormalities.

When the spinal canal or the foramen are narrowed there may or may not be any symptoms.  If the narrowing becomes severe enough to put pressure on the sac around the spinal nerves (thecal sac) or the peripheral nerve roots, patients may develop low back pain, buttocks pain, leg pain (usually above the knee) and/or numbness in the above areas.  It is common for patients with spinal stenosis to develop pain in the buttocks or legs while walking, and feel relief when bending forward.

What is a Bulging Disc? The disc is under great mechanical stress from the body’s weight. It consists of an outer layer called the annulus and a more fluid inner layer called the nucleus. Certain positions such as bending and twisting place great stress on the disc.

Occasionally, the stress is so great that the fibres of the annulus weaken or tear.  When this happens, essentially three things can occur.  Firstly, the fibres can weaken causing the disc to bulge.  There is no actual tearing of the fibres of the annulus but they have got weaker.  This type of disc herniation is not an actual herniation of the nuclear material but rather is a bulging and weakening of the annulus.  This is extremely common with age and is called degenerative disc or arthritis of the spine.  This is not a disease process but a process of wear and tear.  Because the disc composes of tissue similar in structure to the tissue in your skin, like the wrinkles that occur in your skin with aging, your discs are subject to the aging process.

This causes the disc to be unable to spring back when it has a weight on top of it; therefore, it spreads out and becomes thinner and bulging.  Bulging disc can also occur from an acute injury to the disc where the annular ligaments are stretched out quickly but there is no actual tear in the disc fibres.

What is a Partial Disc Herniation? Secondly, the annulus fibres can patially tear and some of the nuclear material can be forced into the tear.  This is analogous to what happens when your tyre on your car gets a bubble in it.  This would be called a sub-ligamentous or partial disc herniation.  This tear is also called a contained disc herniation.

What is a Complete Herniation? The third thing that can happen is a complete tear, or hole in the annulus, and some of the nuclear material can actually escape outside the ligament.  This is what happens to the air in your tyre when you have a blow out.  This is called either a sequestered, extruded, or free-fragment disc herniation.  This type of herniation is the most common type that requires surgery because it often presses on a nerve root and acts as an irritant causing persistant pain, numbness, or weakness.

How do you treat Disc Herniations? Since a disc herniation acts primarily as an irritant causing pain and swelling, the treatment is aimed at decreasing the pain and swelling.  There can be a variety of treatment methods that are successful ranging from osteopathic treatment, exercises and anti-inflammatory medication to epidural steroids to surgery.  The exact type of treatment is often determined more by the symptoms a patient has than the actual type of disc herniation.  What actually happens to the disc is less important that the symptoms the individual patient is having. 

OSTEOPOROSIS

We recently had an osteoporosis dexta scanner at our clinic.  I was the first victim and being a mere 43 thought I would be perfectly fine. Surprising, possibly due to the lack of exercise and the wine, or possibly lack of sunshine I discovered that my bones could do with a bit of help over the next few years otherwise I would be at risk of developing the dreaded bone fractures.  I have therefore joined a gym and will be taking more care to include calcium rich foods in my diet from now on.

We have arranged to have the scanner here again on FRIDAY 25^TH JULY , so if you are interested please let our receptionists know.  The scan costs £38. It only takes 20 minutes and the results are available immediately in computer print out format. If we have enough people interested we might be able to offer appointments on August 15^th as well.

SO WHAT IS OSTEOPOROSIS?

Osteoporosis literally means ‘porous bones’  Our bones are made up of a thick outer shell and a strong inner mesh which looks like a honeycomb made up of tiny struts of bone.

Osteoporosis means some of these struts become thin or break making bones more fragile and prone to fracture.  It often remains undetected until a bone is first broken, which commonly occurs in the wrists, hips and spinal bones.

RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH OSTEOPOROSIS

·                 Female

·                 Early menopause

·                 Family history of osteoporosis

·                 Chronic illness affecting digestion,

kidney, liver and thyroid

·                 Corticosteroid therapy

·                 Diet low in calcium

·                 Heavy drinker

·                 High caffeine intake (coffee/cola)

·                 Poor exposure to sunlight

(low vitamin D intake)

·                 Anorexia or bulimia

·                 Abnormally high or low exercise levels

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP MY BONES?

Tuck into bone friendly foods.  Lots of vitamins and minerals, including calcium, are important to a strong skeleton. Enjoy lots of different foods, including milk and dairy products, bread and cereals, meat and fish and plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Get physical!  Bones need to keep active so give them regular weight bearing exercise.  If you have broken bones you may need to be careful of high impact exercise but its important to stay active and find something you enjoy.

 ALSO PLEASE BE AWARE

The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.  Its pH is 2.8.  It will dissolve a nail in about four days.  Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

To carry Coca Cola Syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the boot to remove blood from the road after a car accident.

You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two days.

To clean a toilet pour a can of Coca Cola into the bowl and let the “real thing” sit for one hour, then flush clean.  The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: rub the bumper with a crumpled up piece of foil dipped in Coca cola.

To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: pour a can of coca cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

To loosen a rusted bolt: applying a cloth soaked in Coca-cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

To remove grease from clothes, empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle.  The coke will help loosen grease stains.  It will also clean road haze from your windscreen.

GOOD NEWS

We now have in place a Streamline Merchant Services account for the processing of your credit/debit card payments.  A small charge of £1 per transaction will be applied to cover costs.  Please bear with us while we get used to the system.

FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT

The alarm outside the town fire station goes off, and in one pub a guy immediately gets up and leaves his beer on the bar. “I didn’t realise you were a fireman” says the barman. “I’m not, but my girlfriend’s husband is”.