| Arthritis is a common term that means many distinct | | | | significantly less friction and move comfortably. |
| diseases, which cause pain, stiffness of joints, swelling, | | | | However, in the degenerated joints, the cartilage turns |
| and tenderness. The word "arthritis" has derived from | | | | rough and exhausted, which causes the joint halves to |
| the term "arthros," which denotes a joint and related | | | | rub in contact with each other. This creates the |
| attachments, and the word "-itis," which means | | | | formation of bone spurs and inflammation with severe |
| inflammation. Different types of arthritis affect almost | | | | pain. The fluid lubricant may turn thin and the joint |
| 50 million people in America, which contribute to the | | | | covering inflamed and swollen. |
| maximum number of all other physical disabilities. | | | | Some other form of spinal arthritis develops in the |
| Arthritis affects around 90 percent of individuals with | | | | facet joints, which join two vertebrae together. These |
| the age of more than 55 years in the United States. | | | | joints are found in the posterior facet of the spine. |
| Some estimates reveal that by the year 2020, arthritis | | | | Usually, these joints can produce hardening and |
| will affect more than 60 million individuals in the United | | | | thickening with age, which may lead to arthritis of the |
| States. | | | | spine. This arthritis can create little to severe pain. |
| Arthritis can affect almost all parts of the body, which | | | | Sometimes, the pain may radiate into the buttocks or |
| include the spine. There are various forms of arthritis; | | | | upper part of the thighs. Certainly, spinal arthritis is one |
| however, the commonest, the most often disabling, | | | | of the usual causes of the back pain, which collapses |
| and the most terrible is the osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis | | | | the cartilage present between the aligning vertebral |
| may be related to degenerative disc disease, which is | | | | joints in the rear part of the spine and very frequently |
| a gradual worsening of the discs among the vertebrae | | | | leads to severe pain. The back motion and the |
| of the spine. Anatomically, the osteoarthritis is divided | | | | flexibility decrease proportionally to the severity of the |
| into two sections. One is lumbar spine osteoarthritis, | | | | back pain induced while sitting, standing, and even |
| which develops pain and stiffness in the lower part of | | | | walking. |
| the spine and the sacroiliac joint. The other is the | | | | There are treatments (for example, foraminotomy, |
| cervical spine osteoarthritis, which can cause pain and | | | | laminotomy, and percutaneous discectomy) that offer |
| stiffness in the upper spine - that is arms, head, neck, | | | | advanced, less invasive, and outpatient surgical |
| and shoulders. Generally, osteoarthritis affects the | | | | procedures, which can eliminate the pain of spinal |
| weight-bearing joints (hips and knees), feet, hands, and | | | | arthritis. For arthritis of the vertebral joints, a laser |
| spine. Normally, the joints are hinges at the bone ends, | | | | treatment called facet thermal ablation is very |
| usually enclosed by cartilage and lubed within a closed | | | | effective. |
| sack by the synovial fluid. The normal joints have | | | | |