Normal degeneration of the spine may seem odd
when discussing degeneration, but age meets
us all. Age brings on degeneration normally. Our
Baton Rouge 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. Spine & Sports Rehab Center
treats them gently and effectively, particularly
when our patients participate fully by keeping appointments, exercising, and taking
supplements that can help. It’s all part of our
Baton Rouge chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we want to talk about,
but age does not mind. 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 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 due to the intensified
mobility of the segment, promoting disc
degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal
stability. (2) Truly, the spine and all its muscles are interconnected.
Spine & Sports Rehab 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 number one 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, 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 described that lumbar
degenerative diseases prompted 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) Spine & Sports Rehab Center realizes
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 performed would be sensible.
A recent study wrote that the addition of fusion
to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis raised
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 oftentimes when managing back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in reducing pain. That
is the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Spine & Sports Rehab Center: gentle
spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Spine & Sports Rehab 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.
Make your Baton Rouge 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 Spine & Sports Rehab Center to set you all
on a path to healing.