Spine Talk

Epilepsy And New Technologies To Treat The Brain with Dr. Akwasi Boah by Texas Back Institute

Dr. Akwasi Boah, Neurosurgeon at Texas Back Institute explains conservative care treatments for back pain. 90 percent of people who suffer from back pain can be treated using conservative care treatments without having surgery. Some of these conservative care treatments include: ice, heat, anti-inflammatories medication, physical therapy, injections, rhizotomy, and chiropractic care. For more information visit: https://texasback.com/patients/patient-education Join us: Facebook.com/texasbackinstitute

Suffering from back pain can be difficult, and knowing when to seek the help of a specialist can be confusing. Dr. Rey Bosita, Spine Surgeon at Texas Back Institute gives helpful tips on when to see a spine specialist and what red flags to watch for. For more info visit https://texasback.com/patients/patien... Join us at www.facebook.com/texasbackinstitute

Dr. Rey Bosita, Orthopedic Spine Surgeon at Texas Back Institute talks about some myths and facts about back pain. Learn more at https://texasback.com/patients/patient-education/ Join Us at www.facebook.com/texasbackinstitute

Dr. Rey Bosita, Orthopedic Spine Surgeon at Texas Back Institute presents some healthy habits for your back. Use some of these tips in your everyday life to help maintain a healthy spine. Learn more at https://texasback.com/patients/patient-education/ Join us at www.facebook.com/texasbackinstitute

Since its founding in 1977, Texas Back Institute (https://texasback.com/about-us/) has been recognized around the world as a state-of-the-art clinic for spine and neurological treatments. Along with recruiting the best and the brightest spine surgeons and clinicians, the practice has been an important contributor in the development of medical innovations such as artificial disc replacement, treatment for scoliosis, disc fusion and for the testing of many other medical devices on behalf of the Federal Drug Administration. The practice is now earning accolades for its spinal research with the launch of the Spine Biomechanics Laboratory at Texas Back Institute. According to a recent article in the online medical site “Spine Universe,” this team and facility, located in Plano, Texas is “helping patients understand exactly how spine conditions affect their movements and muscle activities, and quantifies how much improvement they have made following spine surgery and other treatments.” One of the leaders of this r

The Power Swing: Why it’s Causing Severe Back Injuries and Ending the Careers of Young Golfers The world’s top-ranked professional golfer is Jason Day. He is just 29 years old, 12 years younger than his mentor Tiger Woods, and may be nearing the end of his career due to a golf swing that is taking its physical toll on his back. Woods’ history of back injuries has been extensively chronicled, and due to these health problems, he appears to be at the end of his impressive professional career. The Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour has become a young man’s game, with five of the first six tour events in 2017 won by players between the ages of 22 and 24. However, these “young guns,” such as Day, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, have all had recurring back injuries force them out of tournaments this year. What in the Name of Lee Trevino is Going on Here? In the words of that great Duke Ellington song from the 1940’s, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!” These ailing young golfers have several

An Update on the Ethiopian Twins: Their Miraculous Medical Transformation Continues The lives of two twin brothers from Ethiopia were changed forever in December 2016. Tamirat and Markos Bogale both suffered from a debilitating spine disease called scoliosis. With the help of many organizations in Africa and America, they were transported to Plano, Texas and put in the hands of Texas Back Institute spine surgeon Dr. Ted Belanger, who specializes in procedures which correct this disease. Dr. Belanger shared the good news about these two, brave young men with an update on their post-operative conditions. “Both patients are doing very well,” he noted in a recent interview. “Markos had a more simple surgery than his brother and he is recovering nicely. He should be able to travel back to Ethiopia in late February. Tamirat had a more complicated scoliosis condition, with a greater spinal curvature. His first surgery was successful but he will require another procedure. In the interim between the two surgeries,

The ancient Chinese and Indian healthcare providers who were masters of acupuncture, yoga and tai chai must surely be smiling in their afterlife. In a report released during the second week of February 2017, the American College of Physicians released new guidelines for dealing with the most common maladies affecting modern mankind – lower back pain – with these ancient health techniques before prescription drugs and surgery are employed. Many medical experts called these guidelines “historical” in their implication for treating back pain. According to nationwide media reports, such as this one from the Wall Street Journal, the primary reason for the issuance of these new guidelines lies in the epidemic of opioid addiction. “Opioids, one of the most commonly prescribed medications for pain relief and the source of the increasing addiction and death, should only be considered for chronic back pain when other alternatives – natural and prescription – don’t work”, say the guidelines, which were published in the

For more info visit www.texasback.com/blog Low Radiation and 3-D Images: Two Reasons Your Next X-Ray Should be Taken with the IOS Machine (Stock photo of an x-ray of the spine) When Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1901/rontgen-bio.html) discovered the x-ray while working with a cathode –ray tube in his laboratory in 1895, medical journals of the day immediately understood the significance of this discovery. This ray could pass through most substances, casting shadows of solid objects. What most excited the physicians and dentists about Roentgen’s discovery was that the ray could pass through the tissue of humans, but not bones and metal objects. According to an article (https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Radiography/Introduction/history.htm) on the history of radiography, “Public fancy was caught by this invisible ray with the ability to pass through solid matter, and, in conjunction with a photographic plate, provide a pi

As is the case with many successful people, Dr. Kevin Ju (http://texasback.com/doctors-profiles/doctor-kevin-ju/) was an over-achiever as a child and young adult. When he was growing up in Houston, his parents – a computer programmer mom and a chemical engineer dad – encouraged his curiosity about how things worked. “I spent a lot of time taking things such as microwave ovens and lamps apart and then putting them back together,” he said in a recent interview. “In spite of having no doctors in my family, I was interested in biology and the human body at a very early age. I was fortunate to do some research at Baylor Hospital when I was in high school and was allowed to shadow a surgeon early on. This got me interested in medicine.” Next stop for Dr. Ju was the prestigious Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He majored in biology and wrote an honors thesis in neurobiology (http://neurobiology.stanford.edu/) as an undergraduate. He decided to attend medical school and was accepted to one of the best in

“We’re all wired to sleep differently,” Dr. Bosita said in a recent interview. “Some of us are natural side-sleepers, some sleep on our backs and others sleep on our stomach and those natural sleeping positions can sometimes make back pain worse. “Many times, a person will feel uncomfortable when trying a new sleeping position because it doesn’t feel right. One of our goals at Texas Back Institute is to help our patients get their back pain under control so they can sleep in the most comfortable position for them.” “A person with spinal stenosis, for example, typically experiences pain when they extend their spine,” he noted. “If a person is a natural back-sleeper, the firmness of the mattress will have the effect of extending the spine a small amount, making the back and leg pain worse. “In some instances, people will roll over quickly and they will suddenly wake up because their back pain will get acutely worse. For someone who is sleeping fitfully, the mattress may be the cause and sudden movements can in

It’s rare when a world-class spine surgeon and internationally respected scoliosis expert is also an enthusiastic yoga practitioner. However, such is the case with Texas Back Institute’s Dr. Isador Lieberman (http://texasback.com/doctors-profiles/doctor-lieberman ). This high-energy physician is putting all of these skills in play during a special event on Saturday, June 25, 2016. For the second year, Dr. Lieberman, Texas Health Plano Scoliosis and Spine Tumor Center and Texas Back Institute ( http://texasback.com/about-us/ ) are combining forces for “Stretch for Scoliosis,” a two-hour, fun-filled event to promote the National Scoliosis Awareness Month. Held at the Plano Sports Authority, which is located at 6500 Preston Meadow Drive and running from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., this special workshop will teach parents and children about how core strength and flexibility can be improved. Screening for Scoliosis This event will also allow scoliosis specialists to screen adults and children for this very seri

Dr. Bosita Talks About Pros And Cons Of Crossfit by Texas Back Institute

Eric Clapton, one of the world’s best-known blues and rock guitarists, has been playing his instrument professionally since 1962 and now, at age 71, he is being forced to seriously consider retirement. This has nothing to do with his popularity. In fact, he released a new album of songs entitled “I Still Do” in May 2016, to rave reviews. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, Clapton is experiencing nerve damage which is making it extremely painful to play guitar. He was quoted in the article. “I’ve had quite a lot of pain over the last year,” Clapton told “Classic Rock” Magazine. “It started with lower back pain and turned into what they call peripheral neuropathy, which is where you feel like you have electric shocks going down your leg. And I’ve had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old.” As the most recent addition to the Texas Back Institute team of spine experts, Dr. Scott Kutz, specializes in neurosurgery and, in addition to being an Eric Clapton fan, has se

Why Do Pregnant Women Experience Back Pain? The Two Reasons Might Surprise You. There is not a more joyous time in the lives of a couple than when they are expecting a child. Words are inadequate to describe this experience. This process of bringing a new life into the world is simultaneously invigorating and more than a little scary! During pregnancy, a woman’s body undergoes many changes in order to accommodate the birth, and this often results in the expectant mom experiencing back pain. In most cases, this pain is common. However, to paraphrase a wise person: “Pain is not common if it is YOUR pain.” To explain why back pain often occurs in pregnant women, Dr. Jessica Shellock, a back specialist at Texas Back Institute was asked for her professional opinion. In the process giving this explanation, she also offered some suggestions on dealing with this pain. The Causes of Back Pain “There are two primary causes for back pain in women who are pregnant,” noted Dr. Shellock. “As the baby is growing in

The Brain Trust at Texas Back Institute is Growing – Welcome Neurosurgeon Akwasi Boah The newest member of the world class surgical team at Texas Back Institute is a native of Brooklyn, New York and is a first generation Ghanaian American. Dr. Akwasi Boah was introduced to the medical profession as a toddler. “My father was a pediatrician and my mother was a nurse when I was born,” he said. “Later, my mother became an entrepreneur.” He graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with a degree in Interdisciplinary Health Services with a minor in Biology and was accepted by the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Clearly, this medical school was a long way from his home! “I thought Atlanta was on another planet,” Dr. Boah laughed. “But I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life there. From there, I came back home for surgical training at New York University School of Medicine, and did a fellowship at Johns Hopkins in their Department of Neurosurgery. “As it turned out, I had a famil

Olympians from all over the world are competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and American athletes, who come from just about every state, will also be “going for the Gold.” However, with these games, the state of Texas has something (else) to brag about. Every member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Taekwando team hails from the Lone Star state. More on this team, later. Dr. Rajesh Arakal (http://texasback.com/doctors-profiles/doctor-arakal/), a spine surgeon at Texas Back Institute (http://texasback.com/about-us/), is also an enthusiastic martial arts practitioner. In a recent interview, he explained the difference between taekwando (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo) and other martial arts. “When I was in medical school, there was a dojo where a lot of us medical students, residents and doctors would attend,” he said. “We would meet twice a week for three to four hours, training for taekwondo and mixed martial arts. It was my first opportunity to be exposed to taekwondo and I truly appreciat

Dr. Isador Lieberman, a spine surgeon at Texas Back Institute and dedicated physical fitness participant has a great deal of experience with all types of rowing machines, including the WaterRower. “I’ve been rowing for more than 20 years,” he said. “And I am well-aware of this particular type of rowing machine,” Besides its prominent “role” on the show, what makes this WaterRower so appealing? “I believe it’s the act of rowing and not the rowing machine itself,” he said. “Rowing is a very high-intensity exercise program, which when done properly, exercises just about every muscle in your body. You can burn off a lot of calories in a very short span of time. Plus, you get a full-body workout with minimal impact. So, you are not overwhelming the joints.” “Rowing as an exercise has tremendous appeal,” he said. “It is much more engaging than running, swimming, riding a stationary bike or road bike.” More Than 10 Million People are Rowing The exposure this machine has received from this show has increased the pop

Texas Back Institute is constantly striving to bring new expertise to its practice and the latest evidence of this effort is Dr. Scott Kutz, a neurosurgeon who joined the organization in June. The latest addition to the surgical team at TBI grew up in central Illinois and before landing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area he spent time in Chicago, New Orleans for his medical education and St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri in the early years of his medical practice. In a recent interview, Dr. Kutz said, “I originally wanted to practice relatively close to central Illinois in order to be close to my family. However, the climate for medicine is much more challenging and rewarding in the St. Louis, Springfield and ultimately the DFW areas.” What made Dr. Kutz decide to join the team at Texas Back Institute? He didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Texas Back Institute is a phenomenal facility,” he said. “They have a wonderful combination of doing excellent clinical work combined with cutting edge research and medical educ