About This Blog:
- Most patients realize smoking is bad for their overall health and wellbeing. However, many patients may not realize smoking is also bad for their spine health.
- New research from the Association of Academic Physiatrists has found smoking worsens degenerative disc disease in the spine.
- In this blog, Dr. Mark Giovanini of NeuroMicroSpine discusses how smoking is detrimental to existing damage in the cervical spine.
The cervical spine is a vulnerable structure that can cause a number of symptoms when injured or damaged. If you’re already suffering from degenerative disc disease, it’s important to seek treatment or begin home remedies to prevent it from getting worse. Degenerative disc disease is a progressive condition that typically develops in older demographics. Over time, the condition causes your spinal bones (vertebrae) and discs (intervertebral discs) to become weak and crack from the wear and tear.
Unhealthy habits, like smoking and gaining weight, can accelerate the degeneration, causing additional damage and pain. Most patients with mild or moderate forms of degenerative disc disease experience pain, numbness and tingling in the shoulders, arms, and hands (depending on which cervical vertebrae has been affected), and a limited range of motion. Severe forms of this condition can cause partial paralysis if the damage has impacted the spinal cord.
In our blog, “Why Smoking Is Bad For The Spine,” we discussed how smoking increases the risk of degenerative disc disease, osteoporosis, and complications during spine surgery. Regardless, according to researchers from the Association of Academic Physiatrists, smoking accelerates or worsens degeneration that already exists in the cervical spine. Moreover, the study states that while smoking has been linked to problems in the lumbar spine, it wasn’t until now that researchers could confirm it also worsens damage in the cervical spine.
Results from the study discovered smoking led to a loss in disc height and chronic back and neck pain. Ultimately, patients with spinal problems should consider making the necessary lifestyle changes to help reduce some of these complications. If you’re having trouble quitting smoking, visit some of the following resources for ways to quit today!
For more information on minimally invasive spine surgery or to make an appointment with Dr. Giovanini, please call (850) 934-7545 or visit https://www.neuromicrospine.com/request-appointment.
We hope to see you soon!
The advice and information contained in this article is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or in any other educational medical material.