The spine is the core of the human body and takes a lot of stress, when undertaking strenuous sporting activities, be it as weekend warrior or as an elite athlete.

There is the natural process of degeneration of the spinal intervertebral discs, which can be exacerbated by strenuous activities, leading to disc herniations and nerve impingements. These will cause back pain and radiation of pain down the leg. Weakness of the toes and foot are more serious complications and warrant an urgent MRI scan to establish the diagnosis and likely require surgical treatment.

Injuries due to sprain of ligaments and flare up of facet arthritis are seen in the spine.

In active athletes, a condition called spondylolisthesis is noted, where there is a slip of one of the vertebra on the other. This may be seen in non-athletes too.

MRI scan is the main stay of assessing spinal pathologies. Guided injections can be done for facet joint, sacroiliac joint and nerve root impingements.