Spondylolisthesis Spinal Slippage: What It Means for Your Back
Spondylolisthesis means one vertebra has slipped forward on the one beneath it. It is graded by how far it has moved. The two most common types, degenerative and isthmic, have different causes and different patient profiles but produce overlapping symptoms. Conservative management handles most cases. When it does not, stabilization surgery is designed to stop…
Spinal Stenosis Pain When Walking
Spinal stenosis narrows the canal the nerves travel through. Upright walking tightens that space further. Sitting or bending forward opens it back up. The leg pain and heaviness this produces has a name, neurogenic claudication, and it is distinct from leg pain caused by a circulation problem. Most people manage spinal stenosis pain when walking…
Degenerative Disc Disease Lumbar Spine: What the Name Gets Wrong
The report lands and “degenerative disc disease” is right there at the top. It sounds serious. It sounds like something is actively failing. Most of the time it is neither, and that gap between what the words imply and what they actually mean drives a lot of unnecessary anxiety. Disc degeneration in the lumbar spine…
How Cervical Spine Bone Spurs Form and When They Matter
“My imaging showed bone spurs in my neck. Does that mean I need surgery?” That question comes up often enough that it deserves a straight answer up front: not necessarily, and in many cases, not at all. Cervical spine bone spurs show up on imaging all the time. Most of them are doing nothing. A…
Lower Back Pain Causes by Age: What Changes and Why
Lower back pain causes by age is one of the most common topics that comes up in consultations. “Is this normal for my age, or is something wrong?” I get some version of that question in nearly every consultation, and it’s a fair one. Lower back pain causes by age shift over the course of…
Herniated Disc in the Neck: What Patients Can Expect
I’m Michael R. Wheeler, MD, a spine surgeon with offices in Dallas and Plano. If you are wondering about a herniated disc in the neck and what to expect, the questions are almost always the same when someone comes in after a new diagnosis of a cervical disc herniation. Does this get better, how long…
Let’s Talk About Your Options
If you’re trying to decide whether surgery makes sense — or just want to understand what recovery would look like for your specific situation — that’s exactly the kind of conversation I have in consultation.
