Poor Posture | Dr. Somashekar D8 | Manipal Hospital Kanakapura Road

Duration: 3:52 680 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

Dr. Somashekar D8 from Manipal Hospital Kanakapura Road explains that back pain is often a silent receipt issued by the spine rather than an indication of irreversible structural damage. He illustrates this concept with a metaphorical bill showing how factors like prolonged sitting, poor phone posture, lack of core strength, weekend-only gym habits, and stress accumulate to create discomfort. The primary takeaway is that most back pain is mechanical in nature, involving muscles, ligaments, and joints due to posture issues, rather than being caused by dangerous disc bulges which are frequently seen on MRIs but do not always correlate with pain. Pain is described as a function of these mechanical imbalances, meaning the spine is signaling distress through symptoms like localized pain that worsens with movement and improves with rest. The doctor categorizes back and neck pain into three distinct types to help patients understand their condition better. The first category is mechanical pain, which is common and typically responds well to posture correction and rest. The second type involves nerve-related pain, such as sciatica where pain travels from the lower back to the leg, or cervical radiculopathy where neck pain radiates to the arm. The third and most critical category is red flag pain, which suggests serious underlying issues like infection, fracture, or tumor and must never be ignored. Red flags include fever accompanying back pain, unexplained weight loss, pain that persists at night or wakes the patient up, progressive numbness or weakness, loss of bowel or bladder control, and a history of cancer or tuberculosis. To distinguish between manageable mechanical issues and serious conditions, Dr. D8 suggests specific self-checks for patients suffering from pain. For lower back issues, lifting the leg while lying down can reveal if pain shoots into the leg, indicating nerve involvement, while walking on toes and heels helps identify muscle weakness or numbness in the foot. Similarly, for neck pain, turning the head to one side and observing shooting pain into the arm or numbness in the fingers are concerning signs that warrant attention. He emphasizes that temporary relief from aggressive massage can sometimes worsen irritated nerves, and that true recovery relies on sleep where healing hormones are produced, rather than just structural repair. Ultimately, the video concludes that recurring pain affecting sleep, work, and daily activities is a signal to stop guessing and seek professional evaluation. Early correction of spine issues is vital to prevent chronic back pain and disastrous complications. The doctor urges viewers not to panic over common disc bulges but to focus on the functional impact of their pain and watch for any red flag symptoms that require immediate medical attention. For those needing a complete spine evaluation and a personalized treatment plan, he recommends booking an appointment at Manipal Hospitals Kanakapura Road to address these issues before they become permanent problems.

Read the full video transcript

I'm going to show you something your spine has been creating silently. That is a spine receipt. So, I can see the bill here. 9 hours of sitting, 5,000 rupees. Phone posture, 10,000 rupees. No core strength, 4,000 rupees. Weekend gym suddenly, 3,000 rupees. And stress and poor sleep, 4,000 rupees. Then one day the spine prints the final invoice, that is pain. The first thing I want to clarify as a spine surgeon is that the most back pain is not because your spine is damaged beyond the repair. Most back pain is mechanical. That means that muscles, ligaments, and joints are involved because of posture. And most people panic assuming that there is a disc bulge in the spine. But most of the disc bulges are not dangerous. MRI can show a disc bulges in many people, but the main important thing is MRI shows only the structure, but pain is a function. I classify back pain or neck pain into three buckets. One is mechanical pain. Mechanical pain is a localized pain in the low back or neck usually worsen with posture, and it becomes better and better with rest, and it aggravates with movement. There is a second type of pain which is called nerve related pain. That means pain in the low back travels to the leg, which is called as sciatica. Or the neck pain which goes to the arm, which is called as cervical radiculopathy. There is third type of pain which is called as red flag pain, which is more serious and concerning because red flag pain suggests infection, fracture, or tumor, and this must not be ignored. So, if you remember only one thing from this video is that remember the back pain is common, but the red flag signs are not common. What are the red flag signs? So, number one is fever with back pain number two is unexplained weight loss number three is rest pain that is at night pain fourth one is progressive numbness or weakness and the fifth one is loss of bowel or bladder movements and sixth one is history of cancer or TB and the most important point in the whole thing is the pain that wakes you up in the night and even after getting up you have still a pain that is more concerning than having a pain. Now I'll tell you what makes the pain worse in patients with back pain or the neck pain. So rest weakens the muscles control movement heals pain relief is not spine repair. If nerve is irritated aggressive massage can worsen it. So temporary relief is not the safe correction. Recovery hormones are made during sleep. So try this quick check if you are suffering from back pain or neck pain. For a back pain you lie down and lift your leg up if your back pain shoots to your leg that is one concerning thing. The second thing is try to walk on toes and heels. If you have a weakness you will not be able to do and also know there is a numbness in the foot or leg. But if you have a neck pain turn to one side and turn back if you have a shooting pain from neck to the arm then it is a concerning thing and second thing is if you have a numbness in the fingers again point it out and third thing is if you are dropping objects from your hand again it's a concerning thing. Neck pain or back pain is not your spine is punishing you. It means that spine is giving you a receipt. Back pain or neck pain keeps recurring or if it is affecting your sleep work and activities of daily living it's time to stop guessing and know what is the cause of pain. For a complete spine evaluation and personalized plan please book an appointment with us at Manipal Hospitals Kanakapura Road because with spine issues early correction prevents chronic back pain and it prevents disastrous complications. >> [music]