- Anatomy of The Spine
- Back Pain in Children
- Caring for your Spine
- Emerging Spinecare Trends
- Evaluation of Spinal Disorders
- Exercise and The Spine
- Intervention - Spinal Disorders
- Intervertebral Disc
- Non Surgical Options
- Nutrition and Spinecare
- Options for Spine Treatments
- Pregnancy and Back Pain
- Prevalence of Spine Disorders
- Sleep and the Spine
- Spinecare Introduction
- Spinehealth and Disease
- Surgical Interventions
- Treatment with Medications
- Understanding Back Pain
Spinecare Topics
Caring for your Spine
Self Assessment
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Self Assessment
How to Monitor Spinal Health
There are two reasons why spinal screening tests are valuable. They provide a quantitative baseline of performance for which to measure change. They help the participant learn more about their body and physical capacity. Most neurological compromise in the spine occurs gradually secondary to compression of spinal nerves or the spinal cord associated with degenerative changes. The signs and symptoms are often intermittent and subtle during the early stages of development. Muscle weakness may initially present as performance-induced fatigue, thus, the benefit of isolated self-assessment of muscle performance. When spinal nerve compression does occur it usually occurs first on one side.
Flexibility: Become familiar with your neck and low back flexibility. Periodically assess spine flexibility. There are six primary planes of movement that can be checked in the neck or low back. They are flexion, extension, right and left rotation and right and left lateral bending. Let your physician know if there is a progressive loss of flexibility.
Coordination: Periodically assess your fine motor coordination. An easy way to do this in the upper extremities is to turn both hands palms up. Touch the tip of the thumb to each finger of the same hand one at a time. Go back and forth. You should be able to do this with relatively equal dexterity and speed on the right and left sides. You may perform a little better on your dominant side, which is normal. You can assess fine motor coordination in the legs by patting the ball of the foot lightly against a surface as fast as you can. You should be able to do this with relatively equal precision and speed on both sides. Some individuals will find they are able to perform a little better on their dominant leg. Inform your physician of any loss of coordination.
Balance: One way to check balance is to perform a heel-to-toe walk holding on an imaginary line on the floor as if you are on a tightrope. You should not attempt to perform this without assistance. If you have difficulty or find that this task has become more challenging let your physician know. Another simple test is to stand on one leg for 15 seconds. Then switch to the other. If you have difficulty or find that either test has become progressively more difficult inform your physician. A loss of balance leads to increased risk for falling.
There are two reasons why spinal screening tests are valuable. They provide a quantitative baseline of performance for which to measure change. They help the participant learn more about their body and physical capacity. Most neurological compromise in the spine occurs gradually secondary to compression of spinal nerves or the spinal cord associated with degenerative changes. The signs and symptoms are often intermittent and subtle during the early stages of development. Muscle weakness may initially present as performance-induced fatigue, thus, the benefit of isolated self-assessment of muscle performance. When spinal nerve compression does occur it usually occurs first on one side.
Flexibility: Become familiar with your neck and low back flexibility. Periodically assess spine flexibility. There are six primary planes of movement that can be checked in the neck or low back. They are flexion, extension, right and left rotation and right and left lateral bending. Let your physician know if there is a progressive loss of flexibility.
Coordination: Periodically assess your fine motor coordination. An easy way to do this in the upper extremities is to turn both hands palms up. Touch the tip of the thumb to each finger of the same hand one at a time. Go back and forth. You should be able to do this with relatively equal dexterity and speed on the right and left sides. You may perform a little better on your dominant side, which is normal. You can assess fine motor coordination in the legs by patting the ball of the foot lightly against a surface as fast as you can. You should be able to do this with relatively equal precision and speed on both sides. Some individuals will find they are able to perform a little better on their dominant leg. Inform your physician of any loss of coordination.
Balance: One way to check balance is to perform a heel-to-toe walk holding on an imaginary line on the floor as if you are on a tightrope. You should not attempt to perform this without assistance. If you have difficulty or find that this task has become more challenging let your physician know. Another simple test is to stand on one leg for 15 seconds. Then switch to the other. If you have difficulty or find that either test has become progressively more difficult inform your physician. A loss of balance leads to increased risk for falling.
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