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The Bonati Spine Institute Suggests Looking at Olympic Athletes for Spine Health

For Immediate Release

The Bonati Spine Institute Suggests Looking at Olympic Athletes for Spine Health

Hudson, FL –  March 3, 2010 - The Bonati Spine Institute, the leading center for the patented Bonati Spine Procedures for minimally invasive laser spine surgery, suggests that individuals look to Olympic athletes for lessons regarding spine health.

While watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, adults worldwide cheered their athletes to victory.  We witnessed athletes that were performing because they had recovered from serious injuries, and athletes that would injure themselves during the Vancouver games.  Back pain appears to be more common in elite athletes than the normal population. It has been reported that up to 75% have had one or more episodes of back pain.  This is presumably due to the increased physical demands placed on the spines of athletes in the course of training or competing.

All Olympic athletes are very conscious of how important it is to have good spine health.  Many factors go into optimum spine health – exercise, fitness, form and nutrition.

Back injuries are debilitating and restrictive. The ability to move freely is taken for granted by most people.  Back injuries take away freedom of movement...and sometimes the freedom to sit, stand, lie...without pain

Neither Olympians nor weekend warriors are immune to back problems. While these injuries are common to both professional and amateur athletes alike, they can often be prevented with proper conditioning,” according to Dr. Jo Hannafin, a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Medical Staff and orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) as well as a former competitive rower.

While the non-athlete is subject to the effects of gravity of the spine, the professional athlete raises the stakes significantly, and often dangerously. According to researchers at the University of Illinois, only 15% of back pain is due to structural problems, such as ruptured discs or osteoarthritis. According to these experts, spine problems usually develop as part of a system of musculature imbalances from "the interaction of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons surrounding the spine, or abnormal positions or posture. Therefore, the most important element of care for the neck, back, and spine involves strengthening and/or stretching the supporting muscles and maintaining good posture."

According to the North American Spine Society (NASS), “Regular strengthening (core strengthening and resistance or weight training), flexibility (stretching) and aerobic exercise will improve your overall fitness and decrease the likelihood of back injury.”

About 5 percent of patients suffering from back pain experience chronic pain lasting longer than three months, according to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.  When conservative measures fail to provide relief, it may be time to see an orthopaedic surgeon to have the pain evaluated.  In relatively few cases, surgery is recommended.

Advances in medical technology enable surgeons to repair spinal conditions while minimizing the disturbance to surrounding healthy tissue.  The Bonati Spine Procedures are an innovative range of advanced laser spine surgeries developed and perfected by The Bonati Spine Institute. These outpatient procedures utilize local anesthesia, leaving the patient alert and able to communicate with the surgeon throughout the procedure. 

“The Bonati Spine Institute has helped thousands of people make back and neck pain a thing of the past.  Many of our patients are professional athletes because they know that only The Bonati Spine Procedures offer a 93% success rate.  Using patented methods and instrumentation, our highly experienced and credentialed surgeons have performed these procedures over 35,000 times, with outstanding and lasting results,” commented Dr. Alfred O. Bonati, creator of The Bonati Spine Procedures and Chief Surgeon at The Bonati Spine Institute.

The Bonati Spine Institute
For over 23 years, The Bonati Spine Institute has been the leader in least invasive outpatient spine surgery.  Alfred O. Bonati, M.D. was the first to develop and patent methods and instruments for laser spine surgery to correct problems of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine known as The Bonati Spine Procedures.  Available only at The Bonati Spine Institute, these gentle procedures have been performed successfully more than 35,000 times to treat conditions that include spinal stenosis, arthritis of the spine, herniated discs, bulging discs and degenerative disc disease. For more information, visit www.bonati.com.