What could be the possible causes of Spinal Cord Pain?

What could be the possible causes of Spinal Cord Pain?

Back pain is usual cause of muscular sprain and can generally be resolved over the period of time due to regular blood supply to and fro the muscles. This in turn can help supply necessary nutrients as well as proteins for healing. Thus, in spite of the fact that many episodes of back pain and lower back pain should heal with time, regardless of the treatment, the pain that last longer than three months, or patients with predominant leg pain and more specific definable problems for the pain should be sought.

Even though back pain can affect people of any age, it is significantly more common among adults aged between 35 and 55 years. Researchers say that back pain is associated with the way our bones, muscles, and ligaments in our backs work together in coordination. Pain in the lower back may be linked to the bony lumbar spine, discs between the vertebrae, ligaments around the spine, spinal cord and nerves, lower back muscles, abdomen and pelvic internal organs, and the skin around the lumbar area. Pain in the upper back can be attributed to disorders of the aorta, tumors in the chest, and Spine Inflammation, etc.

Some of the most common issues related to spinal cord pain are:

Osteoarthritis (Spondylitis)

Spinal osteoarthritis is a degenerative disorder that may result in loss of normal spinal structure and function. Although aging is the primary cause, the location and the rate of degeneration are very individualistic. The degenerative process may impact the cervical, thoracic, and/or lumbar regions of the spine affecting the discs and spinal joints.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis normally affects the thoracic and thoracolumbar regions of the spine and may cause unbearable pain. This disorder is caused by a loss of bone mineral density ensuring fragile, brittle bones that are prone to easy fracture. Osteoporosis may cause vertebral compression fractures, loss of height, stooped posture, even a humped back. The patient can control some of the risks for osteoporosis. These include poor diet, smoking, excessive intake of alcohol, and inactivity.

Sciatica

The term 'sciatica' is generally used to describe the pain that travels along the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body. The pain may be sharp, dull, burning, or accompanied by intermittent shocks of shooting pain beginning in the buttock traveling downward into the back of the thigh and leg. The most common cause of sciatica is a herniated disc in the lumbar spine.

Compression Fracture

A compression fracture is a common fracture of the spine that may range from mild to severe. Each vertebral body is separated from the other with a disc. When an external force is applied to the spine, such as a fall, carrying heavy weight, accident, trauma, etc. the forces may exceed the ability of the bone within the vertebral body to support the load. The fracture as a resultant of these external trauma are identified as compression fracture, whereas if the entire vertebral column breaks down then it is identified as burst fracture.

Spinal Infections (Osteomyelitis)

Osteomyelitis is a bone infection usually caused by bacteria. In the spine, it is commonly found in the vertebrae, although the infection can spread into the epidural and/or intervertebral disc spaces. Typically, symptoms include persistent and severe back pain exacerbated by movement, swelling, fever, sweating, weight loss, and malaise. Spinal cord injury can be a devastating condition, causing damage or trauma to any parts of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal. This may bring permanent changes in the strength, sensation, and other body functions below the site of the injury.

With the invention of Stem Cell Therapy it is possible to use special regenerative cells (stem cells) to be repopulated in the areas of damage for further improvement in the ability to move ("motor outcomes") and to feel ("sensory outcomes") beyond the site of injury, thus providing aid in Spinal Cord Treatment.

Ways to evaluate a child for cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy can be referred as a neurological indication, associated with loss of body movements and lack of muscle coordination. The disease can affect children at their infancy or early childhood due to variety of reasons, such as oxygen deprivation at birth, high blood pressure of a mother during pregnancy, faulty labor, etc. It has been evident so far that children with severe form of Cerebral Palsy are born with the disease and symptoms are evident then and there; however for kids with milder form of the disability, it is quite possible that symptoms may not be exhibited for months. Thus, it is very crucial as parents to understand that their child is missing any one of the developmental milestone; and if it is so, they should immediately inform their concerns to pediatrics.

Experts as well agree that early detection of progressive diseases, like cerebral palsy can help them in early diagnosis; engaging a child in early detection programmes for better outcome. Although, confirming cerebral palsy can involve many steps; monitoring the key milestones should be at the forefront of priorities, such as:

·         Abnormal Muscular tone: - Normal muscular tone, allows a child’s limb to bend and contract without difficulty; supporting it to sit, stand and maintain posture without assistance. Whereas a child with CP may demonstrate increased and/or decreased muscle tones, abnormally bad movements, improper motion due to fused joints.

·         Movement, coordination and control: - A child with CP may exhibit hypertonic, fluctuating, scissoring of the legs, poor balance and lack of coordination, disturbances in gait as well posture, etc. Thus, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, etc. to assess significant milestones.

·         Fine motor functions: - Fine motor functions comprises execution of precise movements such as grasping small objects, gentle settlement of objects, turning pages of the book, etc.

·         Oral motor functions: - If a child is having difficulty in using lips, tongue and jaw indicating a cause of concern, such as speaking, swallowing, feeding, chewing, drooling, etc.

·         Balance: - The impaired gross motor function can have severe impact on child’s ability to sit and maintain a balance, indicating it to be a cause of concern. Thus, if a child is using both hands for support, while sitting or needing assistance for performing task that requires balance and walking with abnormal posture; it should be immediately noted as alarming indication.

·         Reflexes: - Certain abnormal reflexes can be noted as warning signs such as excessive reflex responses, lack of protective reflexes, abnormal posture reflexes, etc.

 

Some of the associative conditions can as well be visibly expressed at birth such as sensory impairments, seizures, learning disabilities, etc. This should as well be noted that as there is no diagnostic test available confirming cerebral palsy, ruling out the possibilities is the only way to confirm.

Other than this some of the combinational tests can be done to support the diagnosis early, such as:

·         Assessment of reproductive health of a woman

·         Assessment of paternal health records

·         Assessment of new born screens conducted at birth

·         Checking out APGAR score

·         Assessment of baby birth, developmental as well as growth records

·         Checking out physical performance of a baby

·         Neuroimaging tests analysis to detect developmental abnormality

·         Electroencephalography performance check to analyze nervous system function

·         Evaluating checklists pertaining to developmental milestones

Early treatment usually has the greatest chance of improving a child’s condition. Conventionally only supportive treatments were present to temporarily relieve the pain or symptoms. Additionally there are many support services available for the effective management of some activities and programs, such as day care services or nursing programs. Although the damage in terms of death of neurons cannot be halted or reversed with latest technological revolution such as stem cells treatment for cerebral palsy; the progression can be delayed.

At Advancells, they have been providing assistance to many children for coping up with the problems and to find out permanent solution. Advancells are exploiting the most potent Stem Cells isolated from patients own Bone Marrow or Adipose tissue or may be both depending upon the assessment..

Tips to improve social strengths in a child with cerebral palsy

Cerebral Palsy is one of the most common childhood- disabilities directly hampering neurological functions and is hard to cure. The disorder mainly involves activity limitations, leading to restricted social fittings; mainly due to poor communications, developmental issue as well as physical and emotional disability. As social interaction is mainly associated with proper communication with a palsy child, it usually makes it difficult to mingle socially without poor expressions of his feelings and gestures.

The common social stigma that may affect your child’s emotional well being may include:

·         Poor controls on tongue as well as mouth muscles to affect speech

·         Difficulty in expressing feelings as well as emotions and hence others are unable to understand the child better.

·         Hearing loss and/or visual problems may hamper child’s ability to understand social theme more.

·         Attention as well as behavioral challenges

·         Left out feeling and/or complete exclusion from social activities or being separated from others.

·         Relatively low emotional quotients such as anxiety, shyness, emotional connectivity, frustrations, sadness, depressions, etc.

Cerebral palsy is a kind of neurological disorder involving neural degeneration of brain initiating major functional loss. Apart from experiencing physical limitations, kids with cerebral palsy can experience other psychosocial limitations such as, social anxiety, relationship problems, mood swings, depression as well as attention deficit. Although, as oppose to conventional treatment, wherein effective medical technology is lacking; stem cells and their application in restoring damaged brain function along with some rehabilitation approach has evidently been identified as effectively supporting emotional as well as physical well being of a child.

Accordingly, supporting positive interaction of a CP kid can be immensely important, whether within the family sphere, friend circle or at workplace. Research has suggested that promoting positive interaction through various supportive therapies, along with stem cells therapy has helped prominently to those children to develop friendships to decrease the sense of loneliness, stress and isolation that a child may be experiencing.

The goal is to build child’s emotional quotient to a great extent, to enhance the effect of other medications and overall improve his/her psychosocial strength. Some of the easy targets can be:

·         Developing self experience in children and teaching practical issues to them through self experience.

·         Encouraging positive social interaction amongst many kids to promote healthy relationship.

·         Helping children develop great confidence to create sustainable social environment for their overall well being.

·         Eliminating physical as well as psychosocial barriers among kids

·         Helping them to realize benefits and joy of interaction.

Some of the activities that have to be incorporated in promoting

·         Passive as well as active communication

·         Pictorial modeling

·         Experienced guidance from others

·         Positive reinforcements

·         Group stimulations

These incorporations can help construct children learn important benefits of self confidence and positive interaction with other people. Some of the other constructive activities developed in promoting social interactions can be

·         Positive conversation in small and large groups

·         One to one interaction

·         Sports, activities as well as pictorial description

·         Encourage group activity and improvisational exercises

·         Exercise to promote verbal as well as non verbal, physical cues

 It is most important to communicate and socialize with any child whether or not disabled. Emotions generally get in the way of communicating, leading to social problems with CP. Everyone wants to feel like they fit in, and being unable to do anything can make some people feel self conscious or left out. And the fact is that people with CP want to feel welcome always.

Along with emotional well being, with the help of stem cells therapy it is now possible to restore the lost brain function back to a great extent. The therapy has evidently observed to be helpful for many children suffering with CP to be mentally alert and physically independent. With the regenerative potential of stem cells, Advancells has successfully treated more than 100 patients to gain better quality of life.

A total of 116 patients suffering from cerebral palsy went under treatment at Advancells. Clinical improvements in 66.4% of the patients were observed. The benefits that were effectively exhibited by children after stem cells therapy are improved motor functioning along with decreased spasm problems and a resultant improvement in the ability to sit, stand and walk. It was observed that the treatment augmented posture stability and mental functioning leading to better communication.

Advancells helping 100s of patient today, be a responsible individual and help CP patients by spreading the message. Join face book page https://www.facebook.com/Advancells/

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Stem Cell Therapy for Orthopedic Patients

21^st century is the era of stem cell technology and their applications in regenerative medicine. Stem cells can be considered as new kick starts in curing variety of diseases, which were conventionally could only be managed but not cured.

Orthopedic conditions can as well be incorporated as a part of such incurable diseases, wherein medical science had to so far deal with many difficulties to heal acute and chronic injuries of muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and cartilages. However the main agenda of stem cell therapy could be to stop the progressive damage, to access symptomatic relief and to provide another viable as well as safe alternative. Thus the sole purpose of stem cell therapy in orthopedic is to repair and regenerate damaged and diseased musculoskeletal tissues.

Out of various techniques, which have been applied to treat orthopedic issues, autologous applications of stem cells have proven to be the most feasible option, in safety and efficacy per se. As the cells are extracted from patients own body, there is no concern of graft rejection and other infection transmission. Additionally, stem cells stimulated with autologous platelet rich plasma is the current main theme of treatment, for the effective and speedy outcome.  Evidently this portion of plasma contains variety of chemicals like growth factors and cytokines, which restore the healing process.

Some of the specific conditions that can be treated with stem cell therapy are:

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common yet progressive form of arthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. It is the chronic condition, occurring due to degeneration of protective cartilages, which are cushioning our joint and bones. Due to this degeneration, bones or joints are directly exposed to fiction or rubbing against each other. Due to excessive rubbing, joints are damaged, become stiff, painful and eventually associated with the loss of movements. It has been observed that although all joints in our body are at a risk of OA, however, joints of hands, knees, hips, and spine are at a greater risk. As conventionally no cure exist for complete reversal of damage, although some lifestyle changes such as maintaining a balance diet, healthy weight, physical activity, etc. along with stem cells therapy can promote the slow progression of the disorder.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a kind of an autoimmune disorder, categorized under arthritis. It mainly affects joints and other areas of the body, causing them to be chronically inflamed. The negligence to it for longer period of time may lead to deformed and painful joints which are severely malfunctioned. With the passage of time, the disease can also affects other vital organs, such as heart apart from joints. Stem cells therapy can be considered as a non surgical alternative to conventional joint replacement surgeries.

Sport injuries

Sport injuries, have common occurrence in professional sports, due to increased wear and tear of the locomotive tissues, requiring immediate medical attention. As we all know that our joints and hinges are backed by the muscles, ligaments, tendons, cartilages to provide them the support and strength that are highly in demand in a life of an athlete. However, due to overuse, sudden trauma or injuries; these tissues can release certain chemicals, initiating an inflammatory response. This is in turn characterized by pain, localized sweating, redness, etc.; which ultimately leads to the progressive degeneration of the tissue, to the extent of ending the player's career.

Stem cells are those regenerative cells present in your body which have the ability to self-renew and power to differentiate into various types of cells under certain conditions. Thus, in case of orthopedic conditions, stem cells have been identified to differentiate into cells of cartilaginous origin. These cells can be directed to regenerate lost cells and restore the function back. In various clinical studies, these cells have potentially stopped the progression of disease to a great extent relieving from day to day painful symptoms.

Here, at Advancells Stem Cells Treatment is offered for Arthritis, by re-infusing back patient's own cells isolated from autologous tissues such as Adipose Tissue and stimulated with their own platelet rich plasma, for achieving successful results. This non-surgical procedure reduces joint pain and the need for going through painful Knee replacement surgeries that come with own side effects. Advancells has been effortlessly treating individuals overcome common arthritis and degeneration problems to achieve a better quality of life and health.

Is knee replacement surgery the only option?

Nowadays, more and more patients are going to doctors with common causes of knee injuries, such as fractures, dislocations, sprains, and ligament tears. Knee injury in recent times has become one of the serious issues that doctors are dealing with.

Knee is a complex weight bearing joint with many components, making it vulnerable to variety of injuries. Although many knee injuries can be successfully treated with simple measures, such as bracing and rehabilitation exercises, other injuries may require surgeries to care for. However, if your knee is damaged by some of the painful and progressive degenerative disorders, such as arthritis; you will be either suggested for steroidal medicines or knee replacement surgery by your healthcare professional. As a matter of fact, surgery can bring various other complications like opportunistic infection, delayed healing, long stay in the hospital and cost; thus it’s always better to stay away from surgeries. Additionally long term exposure to steroidal medicine may initiate other long term complications with different organs.

At present in the initial stage of your developing arthritis, many rehabilitation practices may as well be suggested to minimize the progressive damage of the disorder and reduce the pain associated with the same.

Following measures can be noted as precautionary factors to gain symptomatic relief from arthritis:

Weight Loss and Exercise: Losing weight may help you lose the pain to a great extent. Being just 10 pounds overweight, may add up average 60 pounds of force on your knee when you move any further. Exercise thus can definitely help you achieve your weight loss goals, while strengthening your muscles and reducing pain.

Working with a Physiotherapist: It is always advisable to work in co-ordination with a physiotherapist, who knows all the exercises and who can design a schedule that may help you to reduce pain and strengthen the key muscles that affect your knees.

Knee Injections (Hyaluronic Acid): Knee injections of hyaluronic acid lubricate the knee by spreading in between the joints. These injections may help the cartilage and bone tissues slide more smoothly in the joint; thus it acts as a shock absorber, reducing the fiction between two bones and hence minimizing the pain. The technique helps reduce pain and improve knee mobility. Potential side effects may sometimes include additional swelling and pain.

Medication or Cortisone Shots: Medication, including over-the-counter pain relievers and topical creams with the numbing agent’s, such as lidocaine or Marcaine, etc; may help control your knee pain. Your doctor might also recommend an injection of either steroids or cortisone. Steroids The steroids are injected at the site of inflammation. They mimic naturally occurring hormones in your body.

Prolotherapy: It is a new approach that uses a dextrose solution, injected into the ligament or tendon to increase the blood flow and supply of nutrients. The dextrose solution is a sugar mixture. This treatment aims to stimulate the tissue, so it will repair itself.

Arthroscopic Surgery: A surgeon may suggest arthroscopic surgery to remove bone fragments or repair tendons and cartilage inside the knee. An arthroscope is a type of camera that allows a surgeon to view the inside of your joint through a small incision. After making two to four incisions, the surgeon uses the arthroscope to operate on the inside of your knee.

Stem Cells: As such all these conventional treatments can only minimize the pain and/or reduce the symptoms; additionally, anti inflammatory drugs as well as steroidal medications can be dangerous, if continued for a longer period of time, posing other health related issues. In this regard, medical professionals as well as people suffering with these silent diseases were desperately in need of an alternative treatment option that can help them get out of their day to day trauma. In this regard, stem cells therapy is like a miracle for patients that can help alleviate the pain and inflammation in joints. Stem cells are very naive cells of the body, which can be differentiated to any kind of cells of any kind of origin. This remarkable ability of them has been exploited by the healthcare system to promote regeneration of different damaged tissues, which is the basis of many diseases.