Normal degeneration of the spine may seem strange
when talking about degeneration, but age meets
us all. Age brings on degeneration normally. Our
Oxford chiropractic practice acknowledges and
respects age for its influence on the spine and its role
in paraspinal muscle and disc degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. Satterwhite Chiropractic
treats them gently and successfully, especially
when our patients participate fully by coming
to appointments, exercising, and taking
supplements that can be beneficial. It is all part of the
Oxford chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we enjoy talking about,
but age does not care. It keeps doing what it does. Age contributed much 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 changes
in lumbar spinal stenosis patients and normal people were comparable.
Degeneration of these muscles related to age was more obvious
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 greater intervertebral disc height and more severe
vertebral endplate failure may stimulate degenerative lumbar
spinal stenosis due to the amplified
mobility of the segment, promoting disc
degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal
stability. (2) Truly, the spine and all its muscles are connected.
Satterwhite Chiropractic pays attention to them all, to their response to
treatment, to their part 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 main cause of
chronic low back pain. It’s a common and recuring
condition in spine surgery realms. Disc degeneration is associated
with disc inflammation. As we humans age, researchers pointed out
that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, starting
an inflammatory response in the disc and paraspinal muscles which influence spine stability. As the muscles fill with fat, low back pain transitioned
to chronic. (3) In a study of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and
sciatica/leg pain, researchers noted 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 seen
to have more fat in them. (4) Satterwhite Chiropractic realizes
that aging plays a role in back pain’s
development, path, and treatment.
LESS IS MORE: Treating Aged Back Pain
Since researchers noticed 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 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 seen at surgery. (5)
Less is more frequently when managing back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in reducing pain. That
is 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 illustrates the relief with The
Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for a patient with chronic low
back pain.
Make your Oxford chiropractic
appointment soon. There’s no escaping 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 of healing.