Avoiding cigarettes, exercising and eating healthy among ways to protect spine

Over 250,000 Americans have a spinal cord injury during their lifetime and over 50 percent of those individuals are between the ages of 16 and 30.

The spinal cord is surrounded by bones (vertebrae), which support and protect it. Ligaments and muscles support the vertebrae and keep them in proper alignment.

Of the 250,000 Americans that have injuries to the spine, 48 percent occur from car accidents, 22 percent result from a falling, 15 percent from violence and 14 percent from a sport- related accident.

The best way to prevent major complications from accidents is to simply take care of yourself. Courtney Cribbs is a Physician Assistant to well respected neurosurgeon Dr. Ying Chen in Columbus, Ohio and works in surgery nearly everyday.

“We tell all of our patients to make exercise and proper diet a permanent way of life,” said Cribbs. “Exercise will strengthen the muscles that surround the vertebrae and give it greater support in the event an accident should occur.”

Debbie Chapman works at the New Albany Surgical Hospital in the Columbus Ohio area.

“Most people, especially young adults have no idea how bad smoking is for your bones,” said Chapman. “Smoking blocks oxygenation to the bones, which makes them brittle. If the bones are brittle, if an accident happens, the vertebrae will be more prone to collapse.”

It is important to protect your spine but when the unexpected happens, there are many healthcare professionals that are working to help fix the problems that people face.

SpineMon Incorporated has been around for 14 years.

Their employees work in hospitals around central Ohio, but it is nationally known because of the education it provides in the intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring world.

They work with surgeons and anesthesiologists and specialize in spinal monitoring during spine surgeries that place the nerves and spinal cord at risk.

The president of SpineMon Inc. is Clare Gale, a Columbus, Ohio native.

Tina Swary is a certified Neurophysiologial Intraoperative Technologist and employee of SpineMon. “Hopefully you won’t need us, but if an accident should happen, we work as a team to provide positive patient outcomes,” said Swary.

Unfortunately, accidents do happen but hopefully with proper spine health awareness and taking care of the spine as experts advise their patients to, spinal problems won’t be as severe nor need such drastic procedures done to fix the problem.