A Taxi Driver

A Taxi Driver

1. Anatomy of the vertebral column

   • Bones
     • Cervical (7)
     • Thoracic (12)
     • Lumbar (8)
     • Sacrum (5 fused)
     • Coccyx (4 fused)
   • Ligaments
     • Anterior longitudinal ligament
     • Posterior longitudinal ligament
     • Ligamentum flavum
     • Supraspinous and infraspinous ligament
     • Intertransverse ligament
   • Joints
     • Intervertebral discs
     • Zygapophyseal/facet joints
     • Atlanto-axial joints
     • Atlanto-occipital joint
     • Sacro-iliac joint
   • Muscles
     • Superficial
     • Intermediate
     • Deep
       • Splenius
       • Erector spinae
       • Transversospinalis

2. Back pain

   • Causes
     • Trauma
     • Arthritis/osteoporosis
     • Disc diseases
     • Muscles and ligaments strain
   • Aggravating factors
     • Poor posture
     • Carrying a heavy load
     • Overuse of muscles
   • Alleviating factors
     • Ice and heat
     • Posture correction
     • Medications like NSAIDs
     • Physiotherapy

3. Radiating pain

   • spreads from the original pain point to a larger area of the body.

4. Referred pain

   • pain perceived at a location other than the site of the painful stimulus/origin.

5. Radicular pain

   • pain that radiates from your back and hip into your legs through the spine, along the spinal nerve root.

6. Intervertebral disc

   • Features
     • Avascular
     • Nutrition through diffusion
     • Cervical and lumbar discs are thicker in the front to aid anterior convexities
   • Content
     • Periphery: annulus fibrosis
     • Centre: nucleus pulposes
   • Disorders
     • Herniation
     • Degenerative disc disease
     • Annular tears

7. Sciatica

   • pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve
   • Symptoms
     • Shooting/stabbing pain
     • Weakness/numbness of foot
     • Pain in leg and rear area
     • Lower back and hip pain
   • Treatment
     • Surgery
     • Physiotherapy
     • Steroid injections
     • Medications: NSAIDs
   • Etiology of injury
     • Misplaced IM injections
     • Fracture of pelvis
     • Piriformis syndrome
   • Risk factors
     • Age
     • Obesity
     • Occupation
     • Prolonged sitting

8. Psychology of back pain

9. Abnormal alignment of the spine

   • Scoliosis
   • Kyphosis
   • Lordosis

Images and files in the map