Between the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, China has officially entered into an aging society, which requires us to pay more attention to the physical and mental health of the elderly in terms of social security, medical care, and family care. According to the latest sample survey conducted by China Orthopedic Disease Prevention and Treatment Specialized Committee, the proportion of people aged 50 to 60 suffering from low back and leg pain is 71%; for people aged 60 or above, the proportion is as high as 82%. Life is movement, low back pain seriously affects the quality of life of patients, quality of sleep, many elderly people have worked hard all their lives, after retirement should be full of children and grandchildren, to enjoy life, and spinal diseases brought about by the pain of the disease, the most basic quality of life is a luxury, the happiness of life is even more unavailable to talk about. The main culprits are lumbar spinal stenosis and lumbar disc herniation. So what causes the elderly prone to lumbar spinal stenosis, lumbar disc herniation? How should we prevent them in our daily life? What should we do if we suffer from this disease? Here spine surgeons for you to answer questions. Elderly people – lumbar spine disease “hardest hit” With age, the body aging, long-term chronic strain, so that the lumbar spine and its ligaments, joint capsule degeneration, hyperplasia, hypertrophy, and disc protrusion, resulting in lumbar disc protrusion, lumbar spinal canal, lateral crypt, intervertebral foramen and other neural channels narrowed, provoking the lumbar spine. The lumbar spinal canal, lateral saphenous fossa, intervertebral foramen and other neural channels are narrowed, provoking or oppressing the nerve root and causing lumbar and leg pain. Lumbar intervertebral disc herniation, mainly because of the lumbar intervertebral disc parts (nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus and cartilage plate), especially the nucleus pulposus, there are varying degrees of degenerative changes, in the role of external factors, the intervertebral disc of the annulus fibrosus rupture, the nucleus pulposus tissue protrudes from the rupture place (or out) in the posterior or vertebral canal, leading to the adjacent spinal nerve root suffers from irritation or pressure, thus generating pain in the lumbar region, numbness, pain and other clinical symptoms of a side of the lower limbs or both lower limbs. Numbness and pain in one or both lower limbs and a series of clinical symptoms. Lumbar spinal stenosis is caused by hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the ligamentum flavum, hyperplasia and cohesion of small joints, bulging and protruding intervertebral discs, and bony degeneration, resulting in the narrowing of the central lumbar spinal canal, neural radicular canal, or lateral fossa, causing compression of the contents of the spinal cord, cauda equina, and the nerve roots, and resulting in neurological dysfunction. The main clinical features are neurogenic intermittent claudication, as well as weakness and discomfort in the buttocks, thighs, and calves, which are aggravated by walking or backward stretching, and another clinical feature is abnormal sensation in the saddle area (perineum) and abnormal urinary and fecal function. Clinically, lumbar spinal stenosis is one of the most common causes of low back pain, especially in elderly patients. Preventive measures: 1. Health checkup. Teenagers or manual laborers, athletes, such as frequent occurrence of low back discomfort or injury, it is recommended to standardize the medical consultation, early detection of spinal deformity as well as lumbar isthmus fracture slipped, etc. If there is such structural defects should be standardized treatment to strengthen the protection of the lumbar back to prevent recurrent injuries. 2.Correct bad posture. Correct hunchback, reduce sedentary, try to avoid bending over and bearing weight, try not to use too soft or too hard mattress, try to avoid the use of one-shoulder backpacks. 3.Strengthen the low back muscle exercise. Strong back muscles, help reduce the load on the lumbar spine, to prevent soft tissue injury in the back. You can insist on swimming or “swallow fly” and other sports. 4, avoid overweight, reduce the lumbar spine load. 5, cold, wet season should pay attention to keep warm, to avoid labor induced disease. How to deal with lumbar disc herniation and lumbar spinal stenosis? Conservative treatment: Most of the lumbar spine disorders, especially those with symptoms for the first time, can be partially relieved after conservative treatment, which mainly includes: 1. Bed rest and reduce going down to the ground. Rest for 2-3 weeks lumbar and lower extremity symptoms can be relieved or disappear. However, for the elderly, prolonged bed rest is easy to cause muscle atrophy, increased osteoporosis, deep vein thrombosis and pneumonia and other complications, it is recommended not to exceed 2-3 weeks. 2.Drug therapy: Give appropriate amount of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). NSAIDS have symptoms of digestive tract irritation and are recommended to be taken in small amounts and after meals. 3.Functional exercise: the exercise of lumbar back muscles can reduce the load of lumbar spine, effectively protect the lumbar disc and small joints during exercise, and delay degeneration. 4.Application of support: lumbar circumference can reduce the dynamic pull and compression of the cauda equina nerve root by the joint protrusion and intervertebral disc during spinal movement. However, it should not be applied for a long time, and it is easy to cause muscle atrophy. 5, epidural space injection of local anesthesia and steroid drugs can play a local anti-inflammatory effect. Some patients temporarily relieve pain, but multiple injections cause nerve adhesions, increasing the difficulty of surgery. 6.Other traction, local closure, acupuncture, massage and so on. Surgery If the conservative treatment is ineffective for 3 months, the self-conscious symptoms are obvious and persistently aggravated, affecting normal life and work; or obvious radicular pain and clear neurological damage, especially serious cauda equina damage; and progressive aggravation of lumbar spondylolisthesis, scoliosis accompanied by the appearance of the corresponding clinical symptoms, then surgical treatment is needed. The surgical method is decompression, or simultaneous decompression and fusion, and internal fixation is needed to stabilize the lumbar spine after decompression. Complex lumbar spinal stenosis: In addition to the symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis, it is accompanied by lumbar degenerative scoliosis, intervertebral instability, degenerative slippage, and intervertebral foraminal stenosis, which is more complex and requires comprehensive symptomatic treatment. Postoperative complications: Lumbar spinal stenosis surgery is a very mature surgery that has been tested in millions of successful operations. Surgery is not recommended for all patients with lumbar spinal stenosis, but for patients with clear indications for surgery, the efficacy of surgery is significantly better than conservative treatment, which has been confirmed by the results of clinical studies in the New England Journal of Medicine, the most authoritative international medical journal. Due to the lack of understanding of spinal diseases, excessive worry about spinal surgery, many elderly patients are afraid of surgical treatment; and originally many degenerative spinal diseases through surgery can be very good relief of symptoms, thereby improving the quality of life. It is recommended that elderly people with spinal disorders go to a regular medical institution as soon as possible and choose the appropriate treatment to achieve the goal of reducing pain and recovering as soon as possible!