Normal Degeneration Linked with Oxford Spinal Stenosis
Normal degeneration of the spine may seem incongruous when talking about degeneration, but age encounters us all. Age brings on degeneration normally. Our Oxford 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. Satterwhite Chiropractic treats them gently and effectively, especially when our patients do their part in keeping appointments, exercising, and following suggestions about supplements that can help. It’s all part of the Oxford chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we want to talk about, but age doesn’t mind. It keeps doing what it does. Age played a considerable role when comparing the fatty infiltration of muscle in normal people to that in lumbar spinal stenosis patients matched for age, BMI, weight, etc. The paraspinal muscle alterations in lumbar spinal stenosis patients and normal people were comparable. Degeneration of these muscles related to age was more noticeable in lumbar spinal stenosis patients particularly in the multifidus muscles. (1) A radiographic study of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis found age-related risk factors. Researchers wrote that greater intervertebral disc height and more severe vertebral endplate failure may trigger degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis due to the intensified mobility of the segment, furthering disc degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal stability. (2) Indeed, the spine and all its muscles are linked. Satterwhite Chiropractic pays attention to them all, to their response to treatment, to their role in the pain.
BACK PAIN AND ITS PALS
Low back pain has associates. It brings with it degeneration, change, fat, imbalance and more. Researchers adknowledged 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 linked to disc inflammation which makes sense as it is avascular tissue. As we humans age, researchers explained that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, activating an inflammatory response in the disc and paraspinal muscles which have a role in 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 saw that lumbar degenerative diseases prompted paravertebral muscle degeneration with higher levels of intramuscular fat infiltration. Women’s paraspinal muscles were significantly smaller. The erector spinae muscle and multifidus muscle in older aged patients were seen to have more fat in them. (4) Satterwhite Chiropractic appreciates that aging has a role in 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 performed would be sensible. A recent study wrote that adding fusion to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis heightened the odds 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 seen 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 Satterwhite Chiropractic: gentle spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
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.
Make your Oxford 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 Satterwhite Chiropractic to set you all on a path to healing.
