Aziz Ahmad Spinal Surgeon

14/11/2025

🌟 Exercise Still Matters — Even With Spinal Stenosis 🌟

A diagnosis of spinal stenosis doesn’t mean you should stop moving.
In fact, the opposite is true.

Regular exercise helps to:
✅ Strengthen the muscles that support your spine
✅ Improve flexibility and stability
✅ Reduce pain and stiffness
✅ Maintain mobility and confidence in daily activities

Even with spinal stenosis, keeping your core and back muscles strong is one of the most effective ways to manage symptoms and protect long-term spinal health.

Stay active. Stay strong.
Your spine will thank you. 💪🧠

02/10/2025

🩺 Specialist Spinal Care in Ipswich 🩺

Suffering from persistent back pain, neck pain, or sciatica? These could be signs of spinal conditions such as spinal stenosis, cervical myelopathy, or disc problems.

As a Consultant Spinal Surgeon, I provide comprehensive assessment and management of spinal disorders at Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital — with a focus on accurate diagnosis and tailored treatment to help you regain mobility and quality of life.

📅 Book your appointment directly here 👉 https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/mr-aziz-ahmad

🌐 Learn more about my practice: https://www.azizahmadspinalsurgeon.com/

Mr Aziz Ahmad provides comprehensive care for a range of spinal conditions, including degenerative conditions, spinal stenosis, radiculopathy, spinal trauma, myelopathy, sacro-iliac joint issues, and coccydynia. He specialises in microdiscectomy, spinal decompression, fusion surgeries, cervical disc...

24/09/2025

Lumbar disc herniation: can I still exercise (and what about deadlifts)?

Short answer: movement is medicine—but what you do and when you do it matters.

✅ What to do (early phase / when symptoms are irritable):
• Keep moving: gentle walking and little “movement snacks” beat bed rest. 
• Pain-free mobility: pelvic tilts, knee-to-chest (if it eases pain), gentle hip mobility, and graded “press-ups”/extensions if they centralise leg pain. Stop if it worsens symptoms. 
• Core and hip basics: diaphragmatic breathing + light bracing, bird-dog, side-planks, glute bridges, and unweighted hip-hinge patterning.

⚠️ What to pause early on:
• Heavy lifting from the floor (e.g., heavy deadlifts), deep loaded spinal flexion and twisting, and high-impact efforts—until leg pain settles and you can hinge pain-free. (These loads can flare an irritable nerve root.) 

💪 When can deadlifts/posterior-chain work come back?
Once pain is settling and your hinge is symptom-free, progressive posterior-chain training (hip-hinge, Romanian deadlift, trap-bar deadlift) can be reintroduced light → moderate → heavier, with strict technique and symptoms as your guide. Studies show programs including deadlifts can improve pain and function in low back pain—particularly in the right patients—and posterior-chain resistance training can outperform generic exercise for strength and function. 

🧭 Red flags—seek urgent care if: new saddle numbness, bowel/bladder change, rapidly worsening weakness, or major trauma. 

Bottom line: There’s no blanket ban on deadlifts forever after a disc herniation. Start with symptom-tolerant movement, rebuild your hinge pattern, then gradually load the posterior chain. If in doubt, work with a physio experienced in spinal rehab.

07/09/2025

🦴 Back Pain in Osteoporosis – Don’t Ignore the Warning Signs 🦴

If you are an older adult with osteoporosis and have developed back pain that isn’t getting better, it’s important to know:

👉 You may have an osteoporotic spinal fracture (vertebral compression fracture).

These fractures are different from the usual fractures after big accidents. In fact, they can happen with trivial, everyday activities such as:
• Bending down
• Lifting a light object
• Even a sudden twist or cough

⚠️ Key message: If you have persistent or unrelenting back pain, don’t dismiss it as “just age” or “normal backache.” It could be a spinal fracture.

✅ Getting checked early means:
• Proper pain management
• Preventing further collapse of the spine
• Starting treatment for osteoporosis to protect against future fractures

Your bones may be fragile, but with the right care, your spine can still be protected.

⸻

📌 If your pain does not settle, you can book an appointment with:
Mr Aziz Ahmad FRCS (T&O)
Consultant Spinal Surgeon
👉

Mr Aziz Ahmad provides comprehensive care for a range of spinal conditions, including degenerative conditions, spinal stenosis, radiculopathy, spinal trauma, myelopathy, sacro-iliac joint issues, and coccydynia. He specialises in microdiscectomy, spinal decompression, fusion surgeries, cervical disc...

30/08/2025

🚶‍♂️ Is Your Walking Changing? Don’t Ignore It. 🚶‍♀️

If you notice that you’re:
• Losing your balance more often
• Becoming clumsier with your hands or feet
• Or your gait (the way you walk) feels unsteady, uneven, or awkward

…it could be more than just “getting older.”

These can be early warning signs of cervical myelopathy — a condition where pressure on the spinal cord in your neck starts to affect how your nerves work.

🧠 Why it matters:
Cervical myelopathy can slowly worsen over time. Left unchecked, it may cause long-term problems with mobility, coordination, and independence.

✅ If you (or someone you know) has noticed worsening balance or walking difficulties, it’s worth getting checked by a doctor or specialist. Early diagnosis can make a big difference.

Your health and mobility are too important to ignore. 💙

17/08/2025

I’m genuinely inspired by the innovative AI physiotherapy pilot launched by the NHS in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, which halved the waiting list for back pain treatment in just 12 weeks. For a spinal surgeon, this is exciting progress.

From my perspective, the value goes beyond just faster initial assessments.

This technology could also transform post-operative management, helping patients adhere to rehab plans at home while freeing physiotherapy services to focus on more complex cases.
One of the biggest challenges we face in spinal care is managing back pain and sciatica in the community. We all know that good conservative management means many patients will never need surgery.
Yet because of the sheer busyness of physiotherapy services and long waiting lists, many patients simply don’t get proper conservative care in time.

If AI can help sort this unmet need in physiotherapy access, it could not only reduce pressure on surgical pathways, but also ensure patients get the right care, at the right time.

AI platform Flok Health to be rolled out to other NHS trusts but experts warn tech-based care could increase health inequalities

20/07/2025

https://youtu.be/q0ZMDoZUaLM?si=cwdJQ_nWK_T_3JGh

Mr Aziz Ahmad, Consultant Spinal Surgeon working at Oaks Hospital in Colchester discusses the importance of being aware of Cauda Equina Syndrome and its symp...