The end of the year is approaching. It's time to summarize the most important and interesting topics covered by our reporters in “Fakty po Południu” TVN24. Among them is health, specifically our spines and their fractures. It happens that the symptoms of such an injury are not obvious and not always recognizable at first glance. Who do they affect most often and what is the diagnosis like?
Less activity online and more outdoors – for the good of the child. – My son has been training athletics regularly for a year. He is nine years old, says Anna Burchard, Mikołaj's mother. – Running, high jump, long jump – lists Mikołaj Burchard.
When thinking about the near and distant future, let's respond to what physically active children say – experts warn. – You have to listen to the pain. If a child says that their back hurts, don't pat them, a light should come on – says Dr. Krzysztof Guzowski, a physiotherapist from Easy Clinic.
Although a child complaining of persistent pain moves and is functional, it may turn out that he or she has a broken spine. We may be talking, for example, about spondylolisthesis. It most often occurs in the two lowest lumbar vertebrae – the fourth and fifth.
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– This type of damage is caused by spine movements repeated too often and with too much intensity. We are talking primarily about hyperextension and rotation movements, i.e. backward bending with twisting of the spine, says Łukasz Antolak, an orthopedic surgeon from the Warsaw Medical Care Center “Kopernik” in Warsaw.
For such damage to occur, you do not have to be a young tennis player, volleyball player, basketball player, gymnast or equestrian. – This does not only apply to professional athletes, because the reason may even be improperly conducted PE – notes Krzysztof Guzowski.
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“He said he was in pain, but I didn't think it was that serious.”
Teenagers are most at risk because they are still growing rapidly and their bones are not yet mature and resistant to injuries. The patients also include several-year-old children. Statistics indicate that it occurs in up to 10 percent of the young population.
– Unhealed spondylolisthesis, improperly treated or undiagnosed, can lead to spondylolisthesis, i.e. to the shifting of the vertebrae from each other, and this is a disease that accompanies us for the rest of our lives – says Łukasz Antolak.
The basis for diagnosing the disease is magnetic resonance imaging. Such an examination allowed for effective treatment of Mr. Konrad. His symptoms began to worsen when he was 16. – It wasn't a one-time injury (…). These were micro-injuries that overlapped each other – says Konrad Tomasik. The teenager had to replace his skateboard with a corset.
– He said he was in pain, but I didn't think it was that serious at that moment – admits Jadwiga Iskra-Tomasik, Konrad's mother.
Konrad wore a corset for several months. Surgery was avoided.
– It is a mistake in the art of physiotherapy that if something hurts, you have to move it and adjust the spine in some way. These are things that sometimes end tragically and cause deterioration – says Krzysztof Guzowski.
Being in motion, the spine does not have time to heal, and in the case of spondylolisthesis, the time for physiotherapy comes later. Mr. Konrad started with breathing exercises. Two years after the diagnosis, he was completely healthy. Today he swims, rides a bike and kitesurfs. Skateboarding has been discontinued.
Main photo source: TVN24