Spinal arthritis can be debilitating for many older people. Although, it usually strikes in older people, there are also some younger individuals who suffer from mild spinal arthritis. There are many symptoms of this kind of arthritis and most symptoms have some pain related to them. The symptoms usually start mildly and then escalate in intensity as the years go by.

Spinal arthritis is not a cause for alarm because it is not life threatening or even dangerous. It can just cut into mobility sometimes and can be painful enough to warrant stronger pain relievers.

Causes Of Spinal Arthritis

There are just a few kinds of spinal arthritis, and these can be degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, arthritis of the facet joints and spinal stenosis. The common causes of these kinds of arthritis that frequents the spine are the cartilages of the spine succumbing to age related wear and tear, injury to the bone and aging. Injury to the bone can cause bone burs that can be painful.

These cause the cartilages in the spine to wear down, resulting in friction of the cartilages, inflammation, pain, swelling and loss of motion in the area. Spinal arthritis due to osteoporosis is focused mainly in the lower back and the neck region. This kind of arthritis develops as we age. It usually starts with just some mild lower back or spinal pain but as the cartilages degenerate, the friction between cartilages increase. The pain can occur more commonly in the morning and evening.

Most kinds of spinal arthritis are caused by age related conditions as well as a poor diet. Many people overlook their diet and their general bone and cartilage health because they focus too much on their organs health.

Symptoms Of Spinal Arthritis

As with all other kinds of arthritis, spinal arthritis symptoms are swelling, pain in the area, stiffness of the joints (especially in the morning or after some strenuous exercise), numbness of the spinal area, the feeling of bone rubbing on bone in the spinal area, spinal deformity and reduced agility.

Many people think that spinal arthritis is aggravated by cold weather but there is little fact about this so there is no way of finding out if this is a myth or a fact. The best way to reduce spinal arthritis is to drink a lot of non fat milk or skimmed milk. Calcium supplements are also an option although, sometimes, calcium supplements can have undesirable effects.