Patient information from a neurosurgeon
Your spine, clearly explained.
Short videos and plain-English guides to help you understand back and neck conditions, your scans, and your treatment options.
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Featured: Is My Job Bad for My Back?
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Latest on Spinemathema
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Creatine and Your Spine: What the Evidence Shows
What creatine does and does not do for muscle, bone, back pain and recovery after surgery, plus safety, kidneys and product quality.
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Sport and the Ageing Spine: Which Activities Help and Which Carry Risk
How running, walking, swimming, cycling, lifting, rugby, football, golf, tennis, cricket, gymnastics, rowing, riding, yoga and martial arts affect the ageing spine.
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GLP-1 Weight-Loss Medicines and Your Spine: What the Evidence Shows
GLP-1 and dual-action weight-loss medicines and your spine: back pain, arthritis, spine surgery, muscle and bone, and what is still unknown.
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Tarlov Cysts (Perineural Cysts): Symptoms, Evidence and Treatment
Tarlov cysts are common, usually harmless fluid sacs on sacral nerve roots. When they may cause symptoms, how they are assessed and what treatment shows.
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Spinal Arachnoid Cysts: Symptoms, Scans and Treatment
Spinal arachnoid cysts explained: the main types, causes, symptoms and scans, when watching is reasonable, surgery options and what the evidence shows.
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Browse by condition
Lumbar spinal stenosis
Narrowing of the lower spinal canal can cause leg pain on walking. Symptoms, treatment options and the risks and benefits of decompression.
Piriformis syndrome
Buttock pain that can feel like sciatica. How it differs from a slipped disc, how it is diagnosed, and exercise, physiotherapy and injections.
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Latest videos
Landmark trial
Slipped Disc and Sciatica: Surgery or Wait? The SPORT Trial Explained
What the SPORT trial found about surgery or waiting for sciatica from a slipped disc.
Spine guide
Annular Tear on Your MRI: What It Really Means
Why a small split in the outer ring of a disc is common on scans, and when it may matter.
Spine guide
Spine MRI Scan: What to Expect and What Your Report Means
What happens on the day, and what words like degenerate and disc bulge on your report mean.
Spine guide
Cauda Equina Syndrome: Which Back Pain Signs Need A&E?
The warning signs that mean A&E or 999 straight away, and what happens next.
Spine guide
Sciatica: What Helps, How Long It Lasts and When to Worry
What sciatica is, what helps and the signs that mean you should not wait.
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Patient guides
Conditions
Acute Back Pain
Sudden low back pain is very common and usually settles. How to ease it, why staying active helps, and which warning signs need a doctor.
Conditions
Sciatica: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Why sciatica happens, what helps, and the warning signs that need urgent attention.
Conditions
Slipped Disc (Lumbar Disc Prolapse)
What a slipped disc really is, how it usually recovers, and when surgery is considered.
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Medical disclaimer: This website provides general information only and does not replace a consultation with a qualified healthcare professional. If you have sudden weakness, numbness around your bottom or genitals, or loss of bladder or bowel control, go to A&E or call 999 straight away.
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