Back Talk Doc

From Kim Kardashian getting a vampire facial to Hines Ward's extraordinary knee recovery in the weeks leading up to the 2009 Super Bowl, regenerative medicine has gained a tremendous amount of interest in both the lay population and the scientific community. This medical-assisted self-healing process has helped athletes including Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant and other high-profile celebrities not only...

In the world of back pain, there are a variety of vendors in the marketplace offering purported solutions. And, with patients searching for alternatives to injections, physical therapy, surgery, and traditionally prescribed medications, the market for these alternatives treatments is booming. With these solutions ranging in efficacy from widely accepted remedies to ineffective and potentially harm...

If you live or work in the Carolinas, you probably either play golf or have a friend or loved one that plays. Golf is an excellent sport for children and retirees alike and a popular activity for competitive exercisers that don’t want to strain their bones and muscles in high-impact sports. However, golf can also lead to its fair share of aches and pains, so today’s episode focuses on preventing a...

Imagine you suffer from a painful disc injury that prevents you from engaging in many of your daily activities. For most people, the obvious course of action is to go see your doctor, where it’s likely you’ll have a physical examination and be prescribed medications and/or surgery. At the end of this course of treatment, you hope to be pain-free and back to your daily routine. Many patients never...

Do you frequently suffer from back pain and don’t know the right way to treat them? Or do you think your home exercises are making the pain worse? Patients often mistake the difference between being physically active versus going to physical therapy to treat a specific injury, causing them to worsen the pain and fail to properly recover from herniated discs or muscular back strains. In this episod...

Although advancements in technology have made many things possible in medicine, particularly in the surgical aspect, robotics is still somewhat a relatively new concept. This sector is gaining traction in the market, but you won’t find robots in most hospitals in the U.S. In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia is joined by neurosurgeon Dr. Chris Holland to explore surgical robots util...

Replace defective joints in the knee and hips is not unheard of and there’s a big chance that you or someone you know has had this surgery done. But can this type of procedure be done to address issues in the spinal region? In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia is joined by Dr. Dom Coric, who is an expert in spine trauma, spine surgery, and in particular, spinal arthroplasty. They di...

Aside from clinical treatments for back pain and pain in general, acupuncture and dry needling are increasingly becoming part of treatment plans prescribed by physicians. However, there are misconceptions about these two interventions, with people often interchanging one for the other. In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia goes into a discussion on dry needling and acupuncture and th...

Besides cases of lower back pain, another common problem that most people face is neck pain. In severe instances, the pain shoots from the neck to the arm, which can lead to numbness and immobility. One condition that is often difficult to diagnose is the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia is joined by Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates’ n...

One of the most common responses to feeling back pain is asking your physician for an x-ray to determine what’s causing it. However, the process of coming to diagnosis to properly treat any pain goes more than just reading off of an x-ray or MRI test result. In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia gives a rundown on how physicians determine the proper dedicated imaging option needed fo...

Managing inflammation and back pain goes beyond taking medication and undergoing surgeries or therapy. It requires overhauling your lifestyle to one that will support your healing, which involve taking care of your mental well-being, regular exercise, and a nutrition-dense diet. One of the food plans that is known for its anti-inflammatory benefits is the Mediterranean Diet, of which olive oil is...

If you are experiencing lower back pain or sciatica, it’s important to determine its cause for proper treatment and better pain management. However, there are some cases where patients, who reported to have issues in this region, find out through medical diagnosis that the cause is not rooted in bulging or degenerative lumbar discs. In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia dives deep in...

It’s pretty common to have your posture be significantly affected by a spine condition. Whether you’ve had congenital scoliosis as a child or went through an accident that caused the deformity, it’s important to have an understanding of these so you know your options are towards recovery. In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia speaks with Dr. Matt McGirt, a partner doctor at the Carol...

Did you know that nutrition plays an important role in contributing to your better quality of health and overall well-being? According to research, about 700,000 deaths and 15% disability cases have a correlation to poor nutrition. It’s not just diseases, but the pain that you’re feeling right now in your back and other parts of the body may be because of high levels of inflammation. And as clinic...

The world has shifted to a new normal due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Everyone is encouraged to stay at home, resulting in the medical community not operating at full capacity. You may not have the same access to your medical practitioner, but you can empower yourself and manage your pain while waiting for the storm to pass. In this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia shares 8 apps that c...

Dr. Tony Asher, who specializes in brain and spine surgery, talks about the science of practice in this episode of Back Talk Doc. He introduces this concept, that’s being done on a national level, in order to accomplish three goals: boosting healthcare, cost efficiency and patient satisfaction. These outcome science programs aim to collect quantitative data based on studies and experience, and ana...

Not to be mistaken with the epidural administered during pregnancy labor and prior to childbirth, injecting medication to the spine has been an option widely considered by patients with low back pain. Whether they experience leg pain or not, or if their inflammation is related to disc herniations, more people are asking for this type of treatment. But did you know that, in particular, epidural ste...

You don’t need to be a professional athlete to know that it’s important to give your body the rest and recovery it needs after a grueling workout or training session. Some people forget this and push themselves beyond their limit, increasing the risk of sustaining serious injuries. Even those who regularly exercise, no matter the age group, are as susceptible to getting injuries as an elite athlet...

Very often you hear this saying in the fitness world and athletic arena, “No pain, no gain”. It’s as if pain should be expected when you do exercise or undergo training for a sport and if you don’t, whatever you’re doing isn’t going to be effective. This kind of misinformation that exists in this field is one of the main reasons why injuries, particularly on the back, are prevalent among athletes....

One of the toughest conditions to treat is nerve injuries, particularly when it’s related to spinal conditions such as sciatic nerve injury. There are a lot of options for treatment when it comes to these conditions, which often involve a lot of pain relief medications, for instance. However, there is growing evidence on the effectiveness of the inclusion of herbal and alternative medicine and sys...

Correcting structural spinal problems involves techniques that will take years to practice and master for any neurosurgeon. Procedures not only need to effectively fix the issue, but make sure that no additional damage is done to adjacent areas, the skin and to the spine itself! Nowadays, patients are recommended a specific variety of surgery that does the job with lower risks compared to an open...

The statistics surrounding back injuries among adults is alarming and reflects how grave this problem is in society today. About 80% of adults will experience this type of injury, and at least 1 million of recorded cases are caused by manual labor, with trailer truck drivers as the top type of workers suffering from it. Even employees who sit still at their desks for at least 8 hours in a day can...

The things that you do in a single day, no matter how minor you think they may be, is going to have a profound effect on your body soon. Are you feeling sharp pain in your legs, for instance? It may be because you’re putting too much pressure on your spinal cord or your unhealthy habits are already taking a toll on your spine. In this episode of Back Talk Doc, neurosurgeon Joe Cheatle, MD – whose...

Have you ever heard of gluteal amnesia or dead butt syndrome? Did you know that this can happen when you sit for long periods of time without standing or moving around? Many of us are in this same situation every day, our backs hunched over the computer finishing tasks and projects at work. And if your glutes are weak, chances are you’re experiencing pain in your lower back. In this episode of Bac...

Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates welcome you to Back Talk Doc, a podcast dedicated to empowering you to take control of your back pain and enhance your quality of life. On this inaugural episode, we introduce our host, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia, a board certified physiatrist and specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates. Dr. Lakhia is pa...