Dear What now,
I'll do my best, bear with my I like to use analogies.
A spondy refers to the movement or slippage forward of one vertebrae over the one below it. I like to think of it as a car just off the edge of the cliff. If the car were parked just near the edge it would be in correct 'alignment' . This is how your vertebrae should sit, one on top of the other following a natural curve. If that car was slightly over the edge of the cliff this would represent a spondyilolesthesis. There can be varying grades from grade 1 to 5. 1 being the cars bonnet is off the edge of the cliff through to a 3, the car is half way off the cliff to a 5, wow, umm hurry up and get out of the car cause its going to fall!
There are two issues that are associated with spondy's. They can often not be an issue at all. This is what distinguishes those spondy's that have to be operated on from those that dont.
Firstly, Often associated with spondy's is the risk of damage to the discs that are 'sewn' onto the vetebrae both above and below. Discs form the shock absorbers. That is when you jump or run or anything jarring, the discs absorb the impact so your bones dont bash into one another with the impact. The discs are attached to the bones by tense connective tissue and this is solid stuff. Therefore there is no such thing as a slipped disc associated with a spondy. When the spondy occurs what happens is that part of that disc will move with the offending vertebrae and the other part (atached the the next vertebrae) will stay where it is supposed to. When this happens there is a risk that the disc can rupture spilling that absorbing contents or just bulge as it gets sqaushed causing big issues. So as you can see, the greater the slip, the greater the risk of damage to the disc that is attached.
Secondly is the risk of damage to the nerves surrounding the spondy. The nerves that run through the spinal column from the brain exit out each vertebrae from the top of the neck all the way down to the L5. Think of the spine as a freeway, each exit is called a facet joint. This is a part of the vertebrae specially designed to allow the nerves to get from the middle of the vertebrae out to the body. The cars that take those exits are nerves that are on a mission to get somewhere. The nerves that exit are doing so at certain vertebrae to neurologically service different areas of the body. For example, the nerves that loook after your arms get off the freeway at your cervical spine (upper spine), the nerves that service the chest area come out of the vertebrae at the thoracic level(mid back) and those nerves that service from the waiste down exit along the lumbar vertebrae. When a spondy occurs, depending again on the degree of the slip the nerves that are trying to exit out either side of the vertebrae can get caught or strained. This is an issue again that is cause for surgery. How do you know if the nerves are being damaged? Well you'll feel anything from numbness, weakness, tingling, pins and needles or just a dull ache in the legs or just one leg.
I hope this has helped, let me know if you want to know more or clarification.
Good luck
Brooke
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