Spondylosis is a degenerative condition of the spine. It is also known as spinal osteoarthritis. There are two common types of spondylosis: Cervical, which affects the neck, and lumbar, which affects the lower back.

Causes

According to experts, spondylosis is mainly caused by aging. When a person gets older, they tend to exert their bones and cartilages more with every movement, and this causes wear and tear. When this happens, the cushioning in the spinal discs decreases and the bones develop spurs. This results in pain.

Risk Factors

There are a lot of factors that could put someone at risk for this degenerative disease and these include the following:

• Diet
• History of injury
• History of spinal surgery
• Mental health problems
• Smoking
• Sedentary work

Symptoms

Pain in the affected part is one of the most common symptoms of both cervical and lumbar spondylosis. However, the symptom could extend to other areas of the body. It tends to be more severe at the beginning and the end of the day. Other symptoms include numbness, tenderness in the area, tingling, and feelings of weakness.

Spondylosis symptoms develop over time. In some cases, however, symptoms occur all of a sudden. It is recommended to have this condition treated as early as possible because if these symptoms remain untreated, it could result in certain complications such as chronic pain and muscle function loss.

Treatment

While some patients prefer to treat spondylosis with conventional medicine, others prefer chiropractic treatment as this option does not need medications or surgery. Chiropractic treatment restores spinal joint mobility which helps reduce pain as well as improving your overall health.

Chiropractic treatment has a range of methods including spinal adjustment, heat or cold therapy, lifestyle modification, and ultrasound. Most people, as they get older, suffer from spondylosis and this is one of the main conditions we treat at our chiropractic clinics in Chester and North Wales.

The BioPsychoSocial Model addresses the problem of back pain (or any kind of health issues) in three ways: Bio (biological) refers to biological, physical, or medical aspects of the pain such as injury; Psycho (psychological) refers to the way you react to it and how it affects your emotions and behaviours; and Social refers to how social pressures affect your symptoms. In this model, Pain is surrounded by Attitudes and Beliefs, Psychological Distress, Illness Behaviour, and Social Environment. These are the things that have to be addressed in order to identify the best approach to treatment as all these aspects have an effect on pain and recovery.

The BioPsychoSocial Model has six basic elements:

1. Sensory – This basically refers to the physical sensation of the pain in four dimensions:

• Location – Which part of the body is the symptom being experienced.
• Intensity -How severe the symptom is, ranging from 1 to 10, or from mild to excruciating.
• Quality – The type of pain, whether it is a dull, achy, stabbing, burning, or sharp kind.
• Time – How long the pain has been present

2. Emotional – This refers to how you respond to the symptom emotionally; whether or not it makes you feel anxious, depressed, worried, discouraged, irritable, angry, or scared.

3. Mental – This refers to how aware you are of the sensation, your expectations regarding the condition, and how you think you can cope with it. This also includes your thoughts about it, your decision-making process, and your attitude towards it.

4. Behavioural – This refers to the things you do in response to your condition. For some, pain affects their physical activities, routine activities, and habits. It sometimes affects social interactions, which can have a great effect, both mentally and emotionally.

5. Environment – This refers to your surroundings or physical environment, which has an effect on your awareness and ability to cope with the symptoms. This includes the weather, house, furniture, and availability of material resources.

6. Social Environment – This refers to your family, friends, physicians, and other people who can affect or be affected by your symptoms.

Interactions:

These elements interact with one another and can directly affect each other in two ways; in positive or negative cycles.

Positive Cycle –  Pain can have an effect on your emotions and physical sensations but you can control its effect through shifting your thoughts and your attitudes towards the pain and your body.

Negative Cycle – These elements can interact in a negative way. For instance, Sensory (or pain sensation) can decrease physical activity (behaviour). With decreased physical activity, depression (emotional) may occur, which can result to decreased self-worth and motivation (mental). This cycle could go in many different ways and can greatly affect your condition.

Chiropractors, physiotherapists and osteopaths are beginning to take into account the biopsychosocial model in their practices, and those that do are more effective.