What is an annular fissure?

Answer 1

When looking at the spine, you will note that between each vertebra is a block of tissue that resembles a hockey puck.

This "tissue" is actually a shock absorber that cushions the stress on the spine with bending, twisting, lifting, etc. It has a central area of extremely tough protein-Gelatin like material that is the cushioning part. This gelatin material is surrounded by a ring of thick material that is called the annulus and is layered much like a tire. Think of the outer portion of the annulus as the tread of a tire.

There are blood vessels and nerves in the outer layers of this "ring" of tissue.

As we get older the central gelatin material begins to dry out and the bending, twisting, heavy lifting begins to put more pressure and weaken this outer ring of fibers. They can actually tear from stress, resulting in a significant amount of pain (picture this as occurring in the center area of the "tread")... When rupturing of this annulus occurs we call this a herniated disk. With this herniation comes some of the thick gelatin material.

IF THERE IS A DISC HERNIATION, the following applies.

We are discussing the lumbar area of the spine here...

Looking down on the involved levels (L5-S1), the top is toward your abdomen (NOON) and the back is toward the back (6 O'clock). I'll describe what happens, referring to times on the clock.

Nerves travel down the spinal canal as a thick cord of nerves. Each nerve arises at a point in the brain, and travels down the cord, exits at its determined level and travels down the body to where it is designed to go/operate.

If the herniation occurs at 5 o'clock or 7 o'clock, the herniation can pinch (trap) a nerve as it is preparing to leave the spinal cord and travel down the body, resulting in a severe burning pain and possibly muscle cramps if the nerve travels to the spasming muscle.

If the herniation occurs at the NOON position, since no nerves are close by, there is no pain (actually, there can be pain, but it is not from nerves being pinched... there are pain fibers in the disk). If the herniation occurs at the 6 o'clock position no nerves will be trapped or pinched because there is a lot of space in the spinal canal where the spinal cord travels.

Remember I said the nerve is a continuous fiber? Nerves operate exactly like electrical wiring in your house. They are covered with a protein called myelin that acts just like the plastic used on house wiring. We use wall switches to turn electricity on/off to light our houses. If you short across wiring anywhere between the positive wire (where the electricity runs) and the ground wire (the negative wire that completes the circuit) the light will go on. The same thing happens to nerves in the body. If you were to be able to isolate a nerve fiber running from your brain to your big toe, and stick it with a sharp pin anywhere between the brain and your toe, you would always feel the stick in your big toe!

USUALLY (note the caps) a herniated disk will retract on its own, releasing pressure on the nerve, and the pain will disappear. this happens about 70% of the time. The disk will then scar in place, and you should not be bothered again. Occasionally a numb area (where the nerve went) will remain after healing.

Basically a tear in a cartilegenous disc in the lumbar spine. A common, painful, hard to cure ailment.

Answer 2

Posterior means back, annular means ringlike, and fissure means small break or cut. So a posterior annular fissue is a small break on the back side of the ring that surrounds the intervertebral disk.

Answer 3

Basically a tear in a cartilegenous disc in the lumbar spine. A common, painful, hard to cure ailment.

Answer 4

There's a slit in the ring that holds the vertebral disk, and it's been there for a while.

Answer 5

The focus of an annular fissure is the particular spot at which the tissue surrounding the intervertebral disk is cracked.