Beyond Weak San Jose Back Muscles: How Exercise Reverses Hidden Spine Muscle Damage
If you are suffering with chronic back pain from spinal disc problems, many people do not realize their pain involves more than just disc problems. New studies explain that spinal support muscles, especially the erector spinae along your back, can weaken as healthy tissue gets replaced by fat—a process called 'fatty infiltration. This process weakens your spine's natural support system and adds to ongoing San Jose back pain.
THE HIDDEN PROBLEM: FATTY MUSCLE INFILTRATION
When you have intervertebral disc disease, your paraspinal muscles undergo changes that go beyond basic weakness—they really change at a cellular level. Research shows that "fatty infiltration of the erector spinae at the upper lumbar spine could be a breakthrough for low back pain" (1). This creates a vicious cycle: disc problems lead to muscle changes, which decrease spinal support, potentially degrading disc health over time.
Disc degeneration and muscle fat infiltration don't just coexist—they actively influence one another. As pointed out by Jiang et al. (2), there happens to be a critical interaction between lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration and fat infiltration of paraspinal muscles, where these conditions impact each other in ways that can continue back pain and dysfunction.
EXERCISE: YOUR PATH TO MUSCLE RECOVERY
So what's the upside? You can reverse this process through targeted exercise. A recent randomized controlled trial discovered that combined motor control training and isolated extensor strengthening produced superior outcomes compared to general exercise tactics for bettering "lumbar paraspinal muscle health" in chronic low back pain patients (3).
This approach emphasizes retraining how your core stabilizers work as a team while targeting the weakened back muscles. Unlike general exercise programs, these targeted interventions get to the root of the problem by replacing fatty tissue with healthy, functional muscle.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR RECOVERY
Working with your San Jose chiropractor at Chiropractic Solutions to create an exercise program that includes both motor control training and specific strengthening exercises can heal the muscle changes your disc problems have caused. As Rosenstein et al. (2025) showed, this comprehensive approach addresses both the mechanical and neuromuscular aspects of your condition, offering hope for long-term improvement rather than just temporary pain relief.
Remember, healing takes time, but research shows that with the right exercise approach, you can rebuild healthier, stronger back muscles and experience lasting pain reduction.
CONTACT Chiropractic Solutions
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. John Murray on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effective gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management combined with exercise.
