Subscribe
122
Na Hong Wei
Orthopedics
About me
Yanshou County People's Hospital, Orthopedics Department, Chief Physician, engaged in clinical work in orthopedics for many years.
Proficient in diseases
Specializes in: Orthopedics, general surgery, and minimally invasive treatment.
Voices
Osteoporosis detection methods
Osteoporosis is a systemic special disease characterized by low bone mass and damaged bone microarchitecture, which leads to increased bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures. This is the standard set by the World Health Organization in 2017. However, currently in clinical practice, there is no direct method available to measure bone hardness. Therefore, an indirect method is used, which is the measurement of bone density. There are many methods to measure bone density, among which the gold standard is Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). Other methods include single photon, single energy X-ray, Quantitative Computed Tomography (QCT), peripheral quantitative CT, and quantitative ultrasound testing.
The difference between tendinitis and gout
The difference between tendinitis and gout is significant; these are two completely different diseases, although their symptoms are similar, including redness, swelling, heat, pain, and functional impairment. Tendinitis generally involves the muscles and tendons and is a type of aseptic inflammation caused by various reasons. In contrast, gout is due to abnormal metabolism of purines in the body, leading to the accumulation of gouty tophi in the joints, producing inflammatory symptoms. Therefore, tendinitis and gout are fundamentally different diseases.
Can lumbar muscle strain be massaged?
Lumbar muscle strain can be treated with massage if the technique and pressure are appropriate, making it a very important treatment method. Lumbar muscle strain generally involves the muscles which, due to prolonged overload, leads to reduced self-regulatory capacity or chronic aseptic inflammation of the muscle or its attachment points due to poor self-regulation. If the massage technique is correct, it can enhance local blood circulation and accelerate cellular metabolism. This helps in the faster elimination and release of inflammatory substances and pain factors. Moreover, massage can also relax tense muscles, allowing the strained lumbar muscles to rest and the damaged areas to recuperate. Therefore, lumbar muscle strain can indeed benefit from massage, and with the correct techniques, it can have a very effective therapeutic impact.
What does sciatica cause?
Sciatica generally causes changes in six aspects. The first is pain, which mainly occurs along the distribution area of the sciatic nerve, including the back of the thigh, the posterior and lateral sides of the calf, and the lateral side of the foot and sole. I have seen a patient with severe sciatica who had to stay in bed with his head down and buttocks up to minimize spinal canal pressure, finding some relief only in this position. The second change is a decrease in muscle strength, which can even lead to muscle atrophy. The third aspect involves the pathway of the sciatic nerve, including the exit of the piriformis muscle, with tenderness and percussion pain along the course of the nerve. The fourth aspect includes symptoms of sciatic nerve traction, which involves positive results in straight leg raise tests and cross-legged tests. The fifth point is a weakened or absent Achilles reflex, due to the sciatic nerve's innervation of the muscles on the back of the thigh, leading to a decrease or disappearance of the Achilles reflex. The sixth point is abnormal sensations in the area innervated by the sciatic nerve, including reduced or lost sensations or mild sensory disturbances.
Can you drink alcohol with sciatica?
Can people with sciatica drink alcohol? This question comes up often. In fact, sciatica is unrelated to drinking alcohol; people with or without sciatica can drink alcohol. However, it is best to drink less if you are suffering from sciatica. The reason is simple. After consuming alcohol, it might trigger an exacerbation of sciatica symptoms. Secondly, after drinking, the body's coordination and stability decrease, which may lead to uneven walking. At this time, if the sciatica has a specific cause, drinking may aggravate the factors that induce sciatica. Thirdly, excessive drinking is genuinely torturous and also harmful to health. Therefore, it is imperative to drink alcohol in moderation, and it is best to avoid excessive drinking. Otherwise, it is not good for the condition or the person.
What should I do if I have a lumbar disc herniation?
After a lumbar disc herniation, it is essential to first determine the type of herniation you have. Clinically, lumbar disc herniations can be categorized into protrusion, prolapse, extrusion, and sequestration, with protrusion being the most common. Once the type of herniation is identified, treatment can begin. Currently, the treatment methods are diverse and can be broadly classified into six categories. The first is internal treatment with traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies lumbar disc herniation into four types, each treated with different medications. The second is external treatment with traditional Chinese medicine, such as herbal fumigation and plaster application. The third is traction, which includes bed traction and manual massage. The fourth is acupuncture. The fifth category includes other therapies, starting with resting on a hard board bed for approximately a week, followed by techniques like small needle knife therapy, intradiscal injection, sacral canal injection, and ozone therapy. If conservative treatments prove ineffective, or if symptoms worsen during treatment, surgical intervention may be necessary. Surgical treatment is generally indicated in the following four situations: patients with spinal stenosis, patients who do not respond to conservative treatment or who experience recurrent symptoms after recovery, patients with worsening neurological symptoms, and patients with central lumbar disc herniation causing incontinence. These are the conditions mentioned above.
Sciatica belongs to which department?
Sciatica mostly falls under the category of orthopedics. It is a common orthopedic disease, with primary and secondary causes. The secondary type is often caused by compression at the exit point of the lumbar spine and sciatic nerve, so sciatica can be treated in orthopedics or spinal surgery. Primary sciatica, generally caused by inflammation of the sciatic nerve, is managed by neurology. To address sciatica, many hospitals now have departments of pain management. Therefore, sciatica can be treated by four departments: orthopedics, spinal surgery, neurology, and pain management.
Is moxibustion effective for lumbar disc herniation?
As an important treatment method in traditional Chinese medicine, moxibustion has very good therapeutic effects for treating lumbar disc herniation. As long as the acupuncture points are correctly selected, the treatment effect is very good. Specifically, if you choose to use moxibustion for treatment, the main point would be the Jiaji points, and this should include the two adjacent vertebrae. For example, for a L4-L5 disc herniation, you should select points L1 to L5. Auxiliary points should be chosen based on different symptoms of the patient, in combination with different acupoints. For example, if the waist pain is significant, combine with the affected side's Yaoyan point. If the buttock muscles are tense, combine with Huanjiao and Yibian points. If the posterior thigh muscles are tense, combine with Chengfu, Yinmen, and Weizhong points. If there is numbness on the lateral thigh, combine with Fengshi. For numbness in the calf, combine with Weiyang, Chengshan, Yanglingquan, Zusanli, and Xuanzhong points. If the dorsum of the foot is numb, combine with Taixi, Jiexi, and Xiexi.
Is a herniated lumbar disc serious?
Lumbar disc herniation is primarily due to degeneration of the lumbar disc or secondary pathological changes caused by this degeneration, which then stimulate blood vessels, nerve roots, and the spinal cord, leading to a series of clinical symptoms. Lumbar disc herniation is categorized into four types. The mildest type is the bulging type, followed by the protruding type, the more severe extrusion type, and finally the most severe, the sequestration type. Generally, lumbar disc bulging is relatively mild and conservative treatment is usually effective. Depending on the site and degree of compression, lumbar disc herniation may be treated conservatively, but some cases require surgical intervention. Most cases of disc extrusion require surgery because the extrusion leads to spinal stenosis, compressing all or part of the blood vessels, and it can also compress the spine and nerve roots, causing irreversible damage, and medications or massages can't reverse the condition. The fourth point concerns lumbar disc prolapse, meaning the nucleus pulposus falls into the spinal canal through the tear. This is one of the few emergencies seen in spinal surgery. If this occurs, immediate surgical treatment is necessary. Therefore, the severity of lumbar disc herniation mainly depends on the type and degree of the herniation, as well as the location and direction of the herniation, and which treatment method needs to be used.
Symptoms of osteosarcoma
The common symptoms of osteosarcoma include, first, pain which is often persistent, typically occurring at the distal femur, proximal tibia, and proximal humerus. The characteristic of this pain is that it worsens at night, more severe than during the day. Second, there is local swelling usually near joints, particularly at the three aforementioned common sites. The skin over the swelling often becomes warm and may even show redness, and some patients may have dilated surface veins. The swelling can frequently cause dysfunction of nearby joints, or restricted function. Third, systemic symptoms primarily include a persistent wasting syndrome, known as cachexia. Fourth, osteosarcomas can weaken the bone's load-bearing capacity and strength following cortical bone involvement, eventually leading to pathological fractures. Therefore, the main symptoms of osteosarcoma are localized pain, local swellings, systemic manifestations of cachexia, or pathological fractures.