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Rishab crouched on the sofa. After 10 hours of continuously taking calls and co-ordinating with his client and bosses, he was exhausted. He cracked open a bag of Lays and began munching on it. He was done for the day, before his company would ask for another call to sort out the final deal. He clicked on his favourite show on Netflix and was about to watch it when the doorbell rang.
He got up to open the door to find the local shopkeeper delivering the water cans. After the delivery man placed the water can on the floor of his house, Rishab decided to bend down and lift it. At that moment he felt a sharp shooting pain from his lower back all the way to his leg. Brushing it aside as a one off event, he kept the water can in the kitchen and got back to his sofa. He sat on it, his back arched like a C. After watching the series, he went to sleep.
The next day as he got ready to go to his office, he noticed his right foot dragging a little. He seemed to need extra effort to be able to walk and pull his leg along. The moment he sat in the office cab, he felt the familiar dull aching pain from his back.
It was time he consulted a specialist.
The Neurosurgeon that he met seemed to know well what Rishab was going through. After asking him a few questions, he made Rishab lie down on his back and lifted one of his legs with his knee kept straight. Rishab felt the familiar sharp shooting pain. He then asked him to do an MRI of his lower back, to check for the spinal alignment and to detect abnormalities of the vertebrae or the spinal cord.
It was no surprise when the Neurosurgeon saw that the disc in between the vertebrae of his lower back had protruded behind to put pressure on his spinal cord, causing his symptoms to appear. The Neurosurgeon then began to understand his patient’s symptoms better. Not all patients with slipped discs need to undergo surgery and hence he asked Rishab to fill up a questionnaire, the Modified Oswestry lower back pain disability questionnaire. This questionnaire would give him a better idea of how the pain impacted Rishab’s life and how much it limited his everyday activities. Once the Neurosurgeon was convinced that his patient required surgery, he then began telling him about how the surgery would help him.
Humans hadn’t always walked on two legs. Around 6 million years ago, early humans combined apelike and humanlike ways of moving around. Walking upright may have helped our oldest human ancestors survive in the diverse habitats near where they lived, including forests and grasslands.
Around 4.1 million years ago the early humans began to take a step. They briefly stood on one leg—putting stress on the leg bones. The wide area of bone just below this knee joint in a species called Australopithecus anamensis was a result of that stress.
Later around, 2.5 million years ago it was found that the species Australopithecus africanus, began having a curve of the lower back. This was found to have absorbed shock when they walked. This made them uniquely human.
Then over 1.95 million years ago the hip bones of the Homo erectus began getting bigger and broader. They bore a similarity to modern humans, which had given up climbing for walking.
It was only recently over a million years ago that the long thigh bones of Homo erectus enabled it to take long strides and walk farther and faster than its ancestors.
What is of importance to us is how to maintain a healthy spine. A healthy spine is gentle S shaped and has four curves, which include two that move towards the back of the spine and two that move away from the back of the spine. The two terms that Spine surgeons frequently use are Lordosis and Kyphosis.
Lordosis is an increase in the curve toward the front of your body and is naturally part of your cervical and lumbar spine i.e. the neck and the lower back.
Kyphosis is a curving of the spine that causes a bowing or rounding of the back which is found naturally over the upper back and below the lower back involving the buttocks and legs.
It’s only when these two curvatures occur in places other than their usual regions that a patient develops spinal issues. It is therefore vital that we need to maintain a healthy spine by maintaining good posture. This can be attained by strengthening the abdominal and back muscles, carrying bags and supplies in a sturdy backpack and exercising to strengthen your muscles and stay flexible.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.