Normal degeneration of the spine may seem odd
when discussing degeneration, but age encounters
us all. Age generates degeneration normally. Our
San Jose chiropractic practice acknowledges and
respects age for its influence on the spine and its influence
in paraspinal muscle and disc degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. Chiropractic Solutions
treats them gently and successfully, particularly
when our patients participate fully by keeping appointments, exercising, and taking
supplements that can be beneficial. It is all part of our
San Jose chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we enjoy talking about,
but age does not care. It keeps doing its
thing. Age played a considerable role when researchers
compared the fatty infiltration of muscle in normal people to that
in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis who were matched for age, BMI, weight, etc. The paraspinal muscle alterations
in lumbar spinal stenosis patients and normal people were similar.
Degeneration of these muscles related to age was more noticeable
in lumbar spinal stenosis patients especially in the
multifidus muscles. (1) In a radiographic study of degenerative lumbar
spinal stenosis patients, age-related risk factors were noted. Researchers
wrote that larger intervertebral disc height and more severe
vertebral endplate failure may stimulate degenerative lumbar
spinal stenosis due to the intensified
mobility of the segment, promoting disc
degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal
stability. (2) Indeed, the spine and all its muscles are connected.
Chiropractic Solutions looks at them all, to their response to
treatment, to their contribution in the pain.
BACK PAIN AND ITS PALS
Low back pain has associates. It brings with
it degeneration, change, fat, imbalance and more. Researchers credited
intervertebral disc degeneration as being the number one cause of
chronic low back pain. It is a common and recurrent
condition in spine surgery fields. Disc degeneration is associated
with disc inflammation. As we humans age, researchers pointed out
that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, initiating
an inflammatory response in the disc and paraspinal muscles which influence spine stability. As the muscles fill with fat, low back pain changed
to chronic. (3) In a study of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and
sciatica/leg pain, researchers described that lumbar
degenerative diseases prompted paravertebral muscle degeneration
with greater levels of intramuscular fat infiltration. Women’s
paraspinal muscles were significantly smaller. The erector spinae
muscle and multifidus muscle in older aged patients were noted
to have more fat in them. (4) Chiropractic Solutions appreciates
that aging contributes to back pain’s
development, path, and treatment.
LESS IS MORE: Treating Aged Back Pain
Since researchers documented that
with age comes fatty infiltration of paraspinal muscles and inflammatory
responses in the disc, it is logical that doing less if back
surgery is done would be sensible.
A recent study wrote that the addition of fusion
to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis raised
the risk of new stenosis on an MRI two years later at the operated
level or at an adjacent spinal level even when spondylolisthesis (a condition
that one vertebra slipped on another one) was noted at surgery. (5)
Less is more frequently when managing back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in decreasing pain. That’s the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Chiropractic Solutions: gentle
spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Chiropractic Solutions
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Joseph Beissel on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the relief with The
Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for a patient with chronic low
back pain.
Schedule your San Jose chiropractic
appointment today. There’s no avoiding age or its
accompanying pal, degeneration. If disc degeneration and spinal muscle
degeneration are now your pals, trust Chiropractic Solutions to set you all
on a path of healing.