Cincinnati Enquirer Highlights iO-Flex® in "Holidays can be a back-breaker"

For many in the Cincinnati area living with debilitating back and leg pain, the added demands of the holidays can make even the simplest tasks such as decorating a Christmas tree nearly impossible.

More than 3 million Americans are affected each year by a condition called lumbar spinal stenosis, which can cause lower back pain or shooting pain, weakness, numbness or tingling in the buttocks and legs. It is a degenerative condition that usually begins to affect men and women in their 50s and 60s and is caused by the overgrowth of bone and tissue that press on nerves as they exit the spine and travel to the lower half of the body.

Consider these healthy back tips to help keep you on track to have a healthy holiday season:

1. Carry smaller loads when shopping for gifts: Don’t load everything into one bag. By using multiple bags, you distribute the weight evenly over your entire body. Also, make frequent trips to the car to drop off purchases.
2. Decorate in pairs: One person can hand the lights and ornaments to the other person to hang, which avoids twisting your back to get what you need.
3. Stand when wrapping gifts: Wrapping gifts on the floor can strain the neck and lower back.
4. Dress appropriately for winter weather: Wear appropriate shoes that offer orthopedic support and traction to reduce the chance of slipping in winter weather.
5. Clear snow and ice from walkways for holiday visitors: Shoveling snow can cause muscle strain and even serious bone fractures. Bend at the knees and not the waist, and clear deep snow layer by layer to avoid excess weight. Make sure to salt or sand icy walkways to prevent slips and falls that can severely injure your back.
6. Know when to see a doctor: Most types of back pain eventually resolve with little or no treatment. However, some conditions, like lumbar stenosis, require a doctor’s care. Left untreated, the symptoms of lumbar stenosis can worsen over time and significantly limit activities of daily living.

For people suffering with lumbar stenosis, there are several methods of conservative treatment options available, including physical therapy or epidural steroid injections. However, once these treatment methods are no longer successful at relieving symptoms, a surgical procedure called lumbar decompression is considered. Lumbar decompression surgery is one of the most common and successful treatment options for treating lumbar stenosis, however, limitations exist with traditional surgical instruments.

Lumbar stenosis can occur in three distinct areas as the nerve exits the spine, depending on the location of the overgrown bone and tissue. Traditional instruments sometimes have trouble accessing the three parts of the spine where overgrown bone and tissue compress nerves, often requiring the removal of healthy pieces of the patient’s spine needed for stability.A new alternative is available in Cincinnati called the iO-Flex System, which is the first minimally invasive set of flexible instruments for decompression surgery that allows spine surgeons to tailor the procedure based on the location of the patient’s lumbar stenosis, with minimal disruption to the healthy anatomy.

Because the iO-Flex System is designed to be less invasive and less traumatic, a patient may experience shorter hospital stays and recovery times compared to traditional decompression.If you or a loved one is letting debilitating symptoms of lumbar stenosis get in the way of holiday plans, don’t hesitate to speak with your doctor and learn about your options so you can get back to enjoying the holiday season.

Dr. Nael Shanti is an orthopedic spine specialist at the Center for Advanced Spine Technologies, with locations in Cincinnati and Erlanger. For more information, visit http://www.castworld.org.