Blog Archive

When chronic low back pain just won’t go away, you may be at a loss for what to do to find lasting pain relief. At South Texas Spinal Clinic, our team of orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists throughout San Antonio and South Texas offer various treatment options for low back pain. We can...

When you feel sciatica pain in your lower back, hips, buttocks, or legs, it’s not necessarily an injury or trauma in those parts of your body that are the source of the problem. Sciatica occurs due to compression or irritation of your sciatic nerve and sends symptoms flaring up along...

Herniated discs cause neck and back pain for many older adults in the United States. Could your back or neck pain be related to a herniated disc? Our spinal experts at South Texas Spinal Clinic provide diagnoses and effective treatments for herniated discs. We’re here to help you understand what’s...

When you were growing up, did adults ever lecture you about standing up straight, not slouching, and keeping a good posture? They may have had some good points! Bad posture is a major contributing factor to chronic back pain, one of the most common types of pain complaints in adults...

If you have osteoarthritis (OA), you know how joint pain and inflammation complicate your daily life. OA is the most common form of arthritis in the United States and tends to affect load-bearing joints like those in your hips and knees. Since May is Arthritis Awareness Month, it’s a good time...

You count on your bones to keep your body functional and strong throughout your lifetime, but do you know about your risks for osteoporosis or loss of bone density? While osteoporosis can affect anyone, women are more likely to develop this condition in the latter half of life. Why? Primarily,...

When you repeatedly engage in the same motions, your body experiences a unique type of stress called repetitive strain. Over time, repetitive strain can damage your joints, tendons, ligaments, or muscles.  Without the right treatment, your condition can continue progressing, with increasing inflammation, discomfort, and dysfunction in the affected area...

There’s a reason the go-to comparison for discomfort is “a pain in the neck.” Neck pain can be incredibly frustrating, and severe neck pain can even become debilitating. One of the potential causes of neck pain is a herniated spinal disc. If your neck hurts due to an issue with...

Low back pain strains your patience, limits your plans, and ruins a good night’s sleep. If your low back pain problem comes from bone spurs in your spine, you may need a surgical procedure called a laminectomy to relieve pressure on your spinal nerves and get you back to being pain-free. At...

Could you benefit from spinal fusion surgery? This procedure is an effective treatment option for spinal pain related to infections and structural problems. At South Texas Spinal Clinic, our spinal medicine and orthopedics experts recommend the best treatment options for new and existing patients throughout San Antonio and South Texas....

Many of the health problems that appear with old age are related to joint dysfunction. If the joints of your spine or extremities don’t move smoothly, fully, or with ease, your ability to get yourself around without too much pain becomes compromised. And, once you’re dealing with chronic joint pain...

Regenerative medicine focuses on harnessing your body’s innate ability to regenerate and renew itself. Your body regenerates constantly. You grow new tissue and bone cells regularly, repairing injuries and wounds and replenishing crucial areas of your physical self. Degeneration or dysfunction in your body, especially in the nerve-rich area around...

Physical therapy helps with a wide variety of rehabilitation and recovery needs. In fact, physical therapy is one of the best ways to rebuild your health and wellness after an illness, injury, or surgical procedure. At South Texas Spinal Clinic, our team of orthopedic surgery and physical therapy experts treat...

The neck is one of the most common areas of regular pain among adults in the United States. But did you know that if you suffer from neck pain, other symptoms and issues can occur, as well? You might have health and wellness issues that you don’t even know are related...

Arthritis is a chronic, often degenerative condition that causes inflammation, pain, and stiffness in the joints around your body.  Most people associate arthritis with the bigger joints, such as knees and hips, but arthritis can affect any joint in your body, including the small ones in your spine called facet...

Over time, stress and repetitive use wears down your joints, and they become painful, stiff, and difficult to move. If your painful hips, knees, or shoulders are lowering your quality of life, a joint replacement surgery procedure may be a good way for you to relieve your symptoms and reclaim your movement....

Your bones go through substantive changes as you get older, typically becoming weaker, more brittle, and more prone to fractures.  For women, these changes are particularly pronounced after menopause due to hormonal shifts that impact your bone growth. You’re also at a heightened risk if you have a medical condition...

You may need back or spinal surgery for a variety of reasons. Depending on the invasiveness of your procedure, you may be facing a more or less intensive post-surgery recovery process. At South Texas Spinal Clinic of San Antonio and South Texas, our team of orthopedic surgery experts and physical...

When problems with your spine cause you to suffer from chronic back pain or chronic leg pain symptoms, you may be able to find lasting relief with a surgical procedure known as spinal fusion. “Spinal fusion” sounds like a procedure that could limit your range of motion, freezing you into...

When you imagine a bone, you might think of a dry, dusty museum piece, but your bones are made up of living tissue. Your bones naturally break down old tissue and replace it with new cells. However, as you reach your 30s, your bone mass naturally stops increasing. And, as...

Pain and inflammation can occur throughout your body due to an acute injury or a chronic condition. You might be dealing with inflammation from a chronic pain condition like fibromyalgia or a degenerative condition, such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. At South Texas Spinal Clinic, our team of expert providers...

Persistent low back pain cramps your style, keeping you from living life to the fullest. The orthopedic surgery and physical therapy experts at South Texas Spinal Clinic offer the best treatment options to relieve your back pain and improve your quality of life. Among the treatments for back pain we...

Back pain, acute or chronic, makes day-to-day life a challenge. And it’s even trickier when you travel. Long hours sitting in cramped airline seats or driving on a road trip can leave your back aching and painful. At South Texas Spinal Clinic in San Antonio and several locations throughout South...

Add back pain to that classic list of inevitable things, right along with death and taxes. Most adults cope with back pain at some point in their lives. But, for some, back pain becomes a more serious cause for concern, potentially indicating underlying issues that need treatment. How can you...

You wake up in the morning, open your eyes, and it hits you right away: aching or sharp pain, shooting or radiating through your lower back. Or, maybe you have a short period each morning before your low back pain inevitably returns, leaving you shifting and uncomfortable by evening. Back...

Your body depends on your more than 350 joints for mobility and flexibility. You depend on healthy joints for activities at home, at work, and at play. That means that your joints come under unique strains and pressures. If your joints don’t let you bend and move with ease, your...

The more than 300 joints around your body can wear down over time, becoming damaged, stiff, and painful. You might think you need to replace a knee or elbow joint that’s been acting up. However, with today’s treatment options, you have plenty of pathways to explore before turning to surgical...

Whether you’ve suffered a sports injury after a bad landing, or overstressed your body in the pursuit of peak athletic performance, physical therapy (PT) can restore your musculoskeletal health. The team of physicians and licensed physical therapists at South Texas Spinal Clinic are your guides to physical therapy regimens that...

Osteoarthritis, one of the most common types of arthritis in adult patients, affects your joints. You’re more likely to deal with osteoarthritis in joints that take a lot of pressure and bear most of your body weight, like the joints in your legs and feet. Joints in your hand that...

The many delicate pieces that give your neck flexibility and a full range of motion, while still supporting the full weight of your head, are prone to degeneration and pain. Neck pain is the second-most common complaint in adult patients with chronic pain. At South Texas Spinal Clinic, our team...

If you need surgery, especially when you need surgical procedures performed in the area around your spine, it’s only natural to have some concerns. While surgical treatment may be needed to effectively resolve symptoms like back pain, neck pain, or other serious issues, what about risks of complications? And, you...

Your bones have to be strong enough to hold up your whole body, especially the many bones that make up your spine. That’s why conditions like osteoporosis can be such a serious cause for concern. If you have osteoporosis, your bones become weak and brittle. This can lead to problems...

Aches and pains in your joints can be a reality of aging — but if you have joint pain that just won’t let up, how do you know when it’s time to seek medical attention? The expert professionals at South Texas Spinal Clinic have the experience you can trust when...

Back pain that lingers for weeks and months can seriously impact your day-to-day life. Beyond everyday backaches and temporary discomfort from strained muscles, your pain might restrict your activities and damage your quality of life. What can you do if lasting, persistent back pain is limiting your life choices? At...

“What a pain in the neck.” There’s a good chance you’ve used that phrase at least once in your life. Neck pain is something almost everyone can relate to, at least some of the time. If you’ve been living with chronic neck pain, however, you should know that you have...

Do you wake up in the morning with lower back pain, or suffer from regular headaches or neck pain? The source of the problem might be closer than you think. If you habitually use bad posture when seated or standing, you’re putting pressure on your spine that can lead to...

The pain of arthritis can limit your goals and dim your personal happiness. With today's medical advances, you don't have to merely cope with your arthritis pain. Cutting-edge regenerative medical therapies may be able to help with symptoms related to arthritis, including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. At South Texas Spinal...

The joints in your knees allow you to move in many ways. Strong enough to hold up the entire weight of your body, healthy knees can also pivot easily in multiple directions, so that you can bend, twist, walk, run, and jump. However, because your knees are so complex, they...

Your spine has to support the whole weight of your head, as well as serving as the connection between your limbs and the nerve centers of your brain. It's relatively easy for something to go wrong in your spine. Spinal problems have the potential to cause serious symptoms like back...

You perceive pain due to the natural electrical activity always present in your body. From the tips of your toes to the top of your head, your sensory nerves send electrical information back to your brain, where it registers as sensations. Your motor nerves then send electrical signals back to...

The vertebrae that make up your spine need to be correctly aligned, or you can suffer from problems like chronic pain and deformity. The term spondylolisthesis refers to either forward or backward slippage between two of your vertebrae. The most common symptoms of spondylolisthesis are pain in your lower back...

Many tiny nerves come together in your spine — so spinal problems can create all sorts of strange symptoms. A nerve that's been put under pressure or pinched can leave you in pain, or you may experience tingling sensations, numbness, or sudden muscle weakness. Spinal stenosis can create uncomfortable pressure...

Many factors can increase your risks of bone fractures. Whether you're concerned about your bone health as you age, have recently experienced a concerning fracture or broken bone, or have received a recommendation for a bone health evaluation, the experienced staff at the South Texas Spinal Clinic are here to...

If you're experiencing chronic lower back pain, there's a good chance your sacroiliac (SI) joint may be the issue. SI problems account for 15-30% of low back pain cases. At South Texas Spinal Clinic, we have six locations in South Texas where we can resolve your SI pain for good...

Back pain can interfere with your daily life in multiple ways, from bringing about emotional stress and disappointment to keeping you from carrying out your everyday tasks. Over 260 million days of work are lost in the US each year from back pain, according to the American Chiropractic Association, which...

The way some people talk about it, you might think back pain is one of the basic parts of getting older, the same as wrinkles and gray hairs. Is back pain a normal part of aging? Yes and no – while many people experience more back pain as they start...

When you think about your bones, the first word that comes to mind probably isn’t tissue. Tissue seems like a soft word, something you would associate with organs or intricate, fragile body parts. Your strong, resilient bones, the ones that help you walk and move, couldn’t be made out of...

Some injuries heal without much fuss. When you get a papercut, you wrap it with a band-aid and wait until it’s fully healed. When you have strep throat, you take some antibiotics and focus on getting rest to help your body fight off the illness. Even a broken finger will...

Most people experience aches and pains now and then, but the problem usually goes away with an over-the-counter pain reliever and some rest. Chronic pain is much more severe and doesn’t go away on its own, and can last for weeks or even years. Regardless of the source of your...

We live in an age of plentiful technological advancements. However, there are some drawbacks to our age of innovation, and tech neck is one such problem as 58% of American adults with smartphones are at risk for this painful problem.  Tech neck is an irritating condition caused by looking down...

It’s holistic. It’s patient-centric. It’s more effective than anything else you’ve tried.  It’s pain management.  You might be thinking, “That’s not a real thing.” But it is! And we’re so glad to offer it to you at all of our six South Texas Spinal Clinic locations.  Now that you know...

Too much pressure on your spinal cord and nerve roots can lead to back pain, numbness, and tingling in the arms and legs. In some cases, pressure on your nerve roots can cause problems with walking and bowel functions, as well. Procedures intended to relieve pressure in the back are...

Osteoporosis is a condition that causes your bones to deteriorate, making you more susceptible to debilitating bone fractures. Your bones are living entities; bone cells constantly die, and new cells grow. But if you have osteoporosis, your body doesn’t generate enough new cells when the old cells die to keep...

When it’s hard to stand up, hard to sit down, and hard to come up with excuses not to get your back fixed, it’s time get some answers. Start by visiting the talented team of doctors at South Texas Spinal Clinic, with 12 locations throughout Texas. They each specialize in...

Cervical degenerative disc disease is a condition in which the discs supporting the vertebrae in your neck start to deteriorate. The degenerative process could have been triggered by an accident or injury, but it’s most commonly due to aging. The discs often weaken from normal wear and tear. You have...

One of the buzz phrases of state-of-the-art health care is “regenerative medicine.” Regenerative medicine encompasses a number of therapies that help your body repair itself. Two of the most popular branches of regenerative medicine are platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, which uses the power contained in your own blood to accelerate...

While surgery may not be anyone’s preferred treatment, if you’re plagued by back problems that are having a detrimental impact on your quality of life, surgery may be your best course of action. In an effort to make the road to relief a little smoother, minimally invasive surgical techniques have...

Because your back is a complex structure of ligaments, muscles, joints, and bones, it ’s particularly vulnerable to a range of injuries. While anyone can develop back pain at any time, several factors can increase your risk, including: Being 30 years of age or older Having a sedentary lifestyle Being...

While spinal fusion surgery shouldn’t be the first treatment option for your spinal problems, it may be the one that finally provides relief from your specific back condition. When deciding if spinal fusion surgery — a procedure that permanently connects two or more vertebrae together — is right for you,...

Back pain affects almost everyone at some point in life. However, most people recover fairly quickly with time, rest, and conservative treatments such as physical therapy.But if your back pain is constant and doesn’t seem to be getting better, the surgical spine experts at South Texas Spinal Clinic want you...

There are numerous causes of joint pain, but by far the most common is osteoarthritis. In 2015, 15 million adults reported severe joint pain due to arthritis with it being the leading cause of work disability. As if missed work days from pain and not being able to enjoy the...

Now that you have more time to participate in the activities you enjoy, it’s wonderful to hit the golf course in the middle of the week, play tennis on the neighborhood seniors team, or continue any other sport you’ve always enjoyed. As a senior athlete, though — either part time...

Joint pain can affect your life in surprising and dramatic ways, forcing you to change routines, give up activities that you enjoy, and make it difficult to meet your day-to-day obligations. Whether you’re feeling pain in your shoulders, hands, hips, knees, or some other joint, you know how difficult simple...

Four Steps You Can Take to Help Prevent Osteoporosis  You may think that osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become weak and brittle, is an inevitable part of aging and that you can’t do anything to prevent it. But that’s not quite true. Although some of the things that contribute...

Your tendons are fibrous tissues made of collagen that attach your muscles to your bones. These soft tissues are incredibly strong and flexible, but they aren’t elastic. While an injury to your tendons can occur for a variety of reasons including aging, overuse, and stress, they’re often due to structural...

If your knee starts to flare up or your hip aches as the weather changes, you’re not crazy. Weather can absolutely affect joint pain in some people. Sensitive people with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis report feeling more aches and stiffness when cold temperatures, humidity, precipitation, and falling barometric pressure set...

There’s no question that being able to surgically repair a serious back problem has major benefits. You may even know firsthand just how wonderful it can be to finally correct a back issue that’s caused you chronic pain, robbed you of your strength, or limited your mobility. But if you...