Normal degeneration of the spine may sound incongruous
when talking about degeneration, but age meets
us all. Age generates degeneration normally. Our
Montreal chiropractic practice acknowledges and
respects age for its influence on the spine and its role
in disc degeneration and paraspinal
muscle degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic
treats them gently and effectively, especially
when our patients participate fully by keeping appointments, exercising, and following suggestions about
supplements that can be beneficial. It is all part of the
Montreal chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we enjoy talking about,
but age doesn’t care. It keeps doing its
thing. Age contributed much when researchers
compared 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 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 larger intervertebral disc height and more severe
vertebral endplate failure may stimulate 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 interconnected.
Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic looks at them all, to their response to
treatment, to their role in the pain.
BACK PAIN AND ITS PALS
Low back pain has friends. It brings with
it degeneration, change, fat, imbalance and more. Researchers adknowledged
intervertebral disc degeneration as being the main cause of
chronic low back pain. It’s a common and recuring
condition in spine surgery fields. Disc degeneration is related to disc inflammation. As we humans age, researchers explained
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 changed
to chronic. (3) In a study of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and
sciatica/leg pain, researchers described that lumbar
degenerative diseases caused 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 noted
to have more fat in them. (4) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic 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 done would be prudent.
A recent study wrote that the addition of 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 noted at surgery. (5)
Less is more frequently when treating back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in decreasing pain. That’s the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic: gentle
spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic
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 Montreal chiropractic
appointment today. There’s no escaping age or its
accompanying pal, degeneration. If disc degeneration and spinal muscle
degeneration are now your pals, trust Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic to set you all
on a path of healing.