3/31/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly In the present case, both the Labor Arbiter and the CA gave more weight to the diagnosis of Dr. Magtira, who stated in his Medical Report dated March 10, 2016 that: Ms. Briones continues to complain and suffer from back pain. The pain is made worse by prolonged standing and walking. She has difficulty climbing up and down the stairs. She has lost her pre-injury capacity and is UNFIT to work back at her previous occupation. Ms. Briones is now permanently disabled. The intervertebral discs are cartilaginous plates surrounded by fibrous ring, which lie between the vertebral bodies and serve to cushion them. Through degeneration, wear and tear, or trauma, the fibrous tissue (annulus fibrosus) constraining the soft disc material (nucleus pulposus) may tear. These results in protrusion of the disc or even extrusion of disc material into the spinal canal or neural foramen. This has been called herniated disc, ruptured disc, herniated nucleus pulposus, or prolapsed disc. The disc act as cushions between our vertebral bones, and as a part of walking upright and placing stress upon our backs, these discs can start to wear out. This is similar to a tire of a car. If your (sic) drive around a car long enough, the tire will begin to go bald. A degenerative disc is similar to a balding tire. Sometimes, a bald tire can become a flat tire, just as a degenerative disc can tear and become a rupture disc. A degenerative disc can cause problems in two ways then. It can cause local pain, if it occurs in the neck it can cause neck pain, and if it occurs in the back it can cause back pain. A degenerative disc can irritate an adjacent nerve causing pain to radiate into an extremity. When the degenerative changes are minimal, one may assume that relatively severe trauma is required to cause tear. When degenerative changes in the annulus are advanced, minimal trauma such as simple forward bending and twisting may cause tear. The significance of this posterior bulge of the degenerated disc is that this is the area where the nerves run that supply the extremities. This patient has been complaining of back pain. The vast majority of patients responded well to non-surgical treatment though. Probably the most important of which is time, that is to say, that no matter what is done, most cases of acute back and neck pain slowly resolve if given enough time to get better. Active interventions include the use of medications, exercise/therapy, and activity modifications. If a long term and more permanent result are desired however, she should refrain from activities producing torsional stress on the back and those that require repetitive bending and lifting. Things Ms. Briones is expected to do as a Sea Woman. Some restriction must be placed on Ms. Briones['] work activities. This is in order to prevent the impending late sequelae of her current condition. She presently does not have the physical capacity to return to the type of work he (sic) was performing at the time of her injury. She is therefore permanently UNFIT in any capacity to resume her sea duties as a Sea Woman.[30] (Emphasis in the original) https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66202 7/10