Normal degeneration of the spine may seem odd
when talking about degeneration, but age encounters
us all. Age generates degeneration normally. Our
Pflugerville chiropractic practice recognizes and
respects age for its effect on the spine and its role
in paraspinal muscle and disc degeneration. They go together. Pflugerville Wellness Center
treats them gently and successfully, particularly
when our patients do their part in keeping appointments, exercising, and taking
supplements that can help. It is all part of the
Pflugerville chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we enjoy talking about,
but age does not 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 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis who were matched for age, BMI, weight, etc. The paraspinal muscle alterations
in lumbar spinal stenosis patients and normal people were similar.
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 because of the amplified
mobility of the segment, promoting disc
degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal
stability. (2) Indeed, the spine and all its muscles are linked.
Pflugerville Wellness Center looks at them all, to their response to
treatment, to their contribution 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 is a common and recuring
condition in spine surgery realms. Disc degeneration is linked to disc inflammation. 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 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 noted that lumbar
degenerative diseases caused paravertebral muscle degeneration
with higher levels of intramuscular fat infiltration. Women’s
paraspinal muscles were significantly reduced. The erector spinae
muscle and multifidus muscle in older aged patients were described as having more fat in them. (4) Pflugerville Wellness Center appreciates
that aging has a role in back pain’s
development, path, and treatment.
LESS IS MORE: Treating Aged Back Pain
Since researchers observed 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 treating back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in decreasing pain. That’s the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Pflugerville Wellness Center: gentle
spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Pflugerville Wellness Center
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.
Schedule your Pflugerville chiropractic
appointment now. There’s no avoiding age or its
accompanying pal, degeneration. If disc degeneration and spinal muscle
degeneration are now your pals, trust Pflugerville Wellness Center to get you all
on a path of healing.