Osteoporosis and Lumbar Laminectomy Baltimore

Osteoporosis is considered a degenerative bone disease, although it is not really a disease in the sense of diseases being transmitted from one individual to another by means of a bacteria or virus.  It can be considered more of a symptom of aging.  Some people develop it without ever having any risk factors other than age.  It can also be considered a kind of cumulative injury from doing physically demanding activities over many years.  Other known risk factors include a poor diet lacking in calcium, smoking, and menopause.  Osteoporosis can impact the bones in any part of the body, causing pain and stiffness as tissues dry out and cartilage that is intended to cushion the joints fails to do its job adequately.

Osteoporosis in the Lower Back and Lumbar Laminectomy

The lower back is one area where osteoporosis can cause a lot of havoc.  This is often called the "lumbar spine" in medical literature.  When osteoporosis impacts the small bones that make up the rigid part of the spinal column (called vertebrae), physical shifts and breakages can cause some of the many nerves that connect directly to the spinal cord to be pinched and compressed.  The result is surprisingly intense pain in the lower back, or even in the legs and feet.

One possible solution to this kind of chronic pain is a lumbar laminectomy Baltimore.  This is a surgical intervention that is not generally used until less invasive treatments have been tried for pain reduction.  These may include over-the-counter medications that relieve pain and reduce inflammation, prescription medications, and physical therapy or other programs designed by a sports medicine professional.

The decision to have surgery has to be an informed one on the part of the patient, given that the recovery process can be fairly difficult and clinical failure is the biggest risk of a lumbar laminectomy Baltimore MD.  Clinical failure simply means that the surgery does not have a satisfactory outcome with regard to relieving or reducing the patient's level of pain.  The operation is otherwise very safe, with less than 1% of U.S. procedures resulting in mortality each year.