Normal Degeneration Linked with Baton Rouge Spinal Stenosis

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. 

 
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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."