Normal degeneration of the spine may seem odd
when discussing degeneration, but age meets
us all. Age brings on degeneration normally. Our
Vancouver chiropractic practice recognizes and
respects age for its influence on the spine and its influence
in disc degeneration and paraspinal
muscle degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. Vancouver Disc Centers
treats them gently and successfully, particularly
when our patients do their part in coming
to appointments, exercising, and taking
supplements that can be beneficial. It’s all part of the
Vancouver chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we want to talk about,
but age does not care. It keeps doing its
thing. Age contributed much 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 larger intervertebral disc height and more severe
vertebral endplate failure may stimulate degenerative lumbar
spinal stenosis because of the increased
mobility of the segment, progressing disc
degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal
stability. (2) Truly, the spine and all its muscles are linked.
Vancouver Disc Centers looks at 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 familiar and recuring
condition in spine surgery realms. Disc degeneration is related to disc inflammation. As we humans age, researchers explained
that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, triggering
an inflammatory response in the disc and paraspinal muscles which play
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 described as having more fat in them. (4) Vancouver Disc Centers 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 prudent.
A new study wrote that the addition of fusion
to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis increased
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 noted at surgery. (5)
Less is more frequently when managing back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in decreasing pain. That
is the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Vancouver Disc Centers: gentle
spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
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 Vancouver 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 Vancouver Disc Centers to get you all
on a path to healing.