Neck & Back Care: Illustrated Guidebook for Seniors

You have pain in your lower back. Now what do you do? Some answers may be found in this book, which is written in non-medical terms to help you understand your path forward for treatment and healing.

Living with neck or back pain make even simple activities such as getting out of bed, driving, cooking, and walking feel exhausting and uncertain. Neck & Back Care is a senior-friendly book designed to help you understand what is causing your pain and what your real-world options are for relief. Board certified orthopaedic surgeons walk you through the basic anatomy of the spine, common age-related conditions that affect the neck and back, such as spinal stenosis, pinched nerves, and arthritis, and the symptoms that often accompany them.

You'll learn how spine problems are evaluated, what imaging tests can (and can't) show, and how to make sense of medical terms, which make your doctor visits less confusing and more productive. You'll find practical explanations of non-surgical treatments, (physical therapy, medications, and injections) as well as when surgery might be considered and what questions to ask before making any decisions. Take control of the conversation. Understand your body. Choose a plan that fits your life.

Be enlightened! Be empowered! Be healthy!

Richard J. Nasca, M.D. was born in Elmira, New York. He graduated from Gonzaga College High School, Georgetown College and Georgetown School of Medicine, cum laude.He completed his internship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Following five years of residency in Surgery and Orthopaedics at Duke and Affiliated Hospitals, he served two years at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital as Chief of the Amputee and Hand Services during the Vietnam Conflict.Following his discharge from active duty he was a member of the Orthopaedic faculty of the University of Arkansas Medical Center, the Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Little Rock Veterans Hospital.In 1980, he was recruited to join the Orthopaedic faculty at the University of Alabama, Birmingham where he founded and directed the Multidisciplinary Spine Center and the Spine Research Laboratory at the Birmingham Veterans Hospital.He practiced Orthopaedic and Spine Surgery in Prince Georges County Maryland from 1991 to 2000. After closing his practice and moving to Wilmington, NC, he was a consultant for Sulzer Spine Tech and TranS1.Dr Nasca is involved in fundraising for Good Shepherd Center, The Center's Lakeside Project, St Mark Catholic School and the Father Tom Price Catholic High School. He is a volunteer orthopaedic physician at the Cape Fear Clinic.Dr Nasca is a certified Master Gardener. He served on the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) Life Long Learning Advisory Board. Currently he is a member of the Dean's Advisory and Advancement Boards for the UNCW College of Health and Human Services.He was president of the American College of Spinal Surgeons and a Founding member and Board of Directors of the North American Spine Society, a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, a Diplomat of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, an Emeritus member of the Scoliosis Research Society, Clinical Orthopaedic Society, Orthopaedic Research Society, Southern Orthopaedic Association and Piedmont Orthopedic Society.He has served on the editorial boards of Spine, The International Journal of Spine Surgery and Journal of Orthopaedic Advances. He has authored and coauthored 75 medical articles and book chapters, five children's books and several medical books. He has been a member of the Landfall Writers' Group which has published four books. He recently published Winds of Change, a book about his Sicilian ancestors.He received the Georgetown University School of Medicine Founders Award in 2015 and was the Piedmont Orthopaedic Society Guest of Honor in 2025.Dr. Nasca has been married to his wife Carol T. Smith R.N. for 60 years. They have three children and a granddaughter. He enjoys golf, gardening, swimming and traveling.

James D. Hundley, M.D. a native of Wallace, N.C., is a graduate of the University of the North Carolina School of Medicine and the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency at UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, N.C. He served as an orthopaedic surgeon in the U.S. Air Force before joining the Wilmington Orthopaedic Group, Wilmington, N.C., which has been merged into EmergeOrtho.His medical interests were in adult reconstruction surgery (mostly hip and knee replacement surgery) and sports medicine, where he was a university team physician for over twenty years. He founded OrthopaedicLIST.com, a resource website for orthopaedic surgeons, in 2003, and operated it for over 20 years.Hundley's peers in orthopaedic surgery, the UNC School of Medicine, UNC Wilmington, the New Hanover-Pender Medical Society, his community, and the governor of North Carolina (Order of the Long Leaf Pine) have recognized him for his work and community service. He has served as president of the New Hanover-Pender Medical Society, the North Carolina Orthopaedic Association, the Atlantic Bone Club, and the Wilmington Rotary Club and as Chief of Staff of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center. He is currently the chairman of the board of Cape Fear Memorial Foundation, a benevolent foundation focused on community health, on the Advisory Board of the UNC Wilmington College of Health and Human Services, and on the board of the Kamenini Orthopaedic Museum.His writings include multiple scientific publications in medical journals, co-author of research books, and numerous magazine articles. In addition to these orthopaedic books, he authored Doc's Way, How to Win at Golf and Life, a book about the life and teachings of an accomplished veterinarian and golf aficionado.Hundley and his wife Linda, to whom he has been happily married for fifty-nine years, have three children and five perfect granddaughters. His other interests include golf, fishing, and reading.