Extension of the spine: It is valuable. It is harmful.
So what’s with extension for the spine?
Both are accurate: It is good. It’s
bad. It
is the job of your Baton Rouge chiropractor to help you decide the role of extension for your Baton Rouge
back pain relief plan and Baton Rouge back pain control plan moving
past the existing episode of back pain.
Your Baton Rouge chiropractor at Spine & Sports Rehab Center is well experienced
in the effects – good and bad – of spinal extension and respects its role in spinal
health and motion.
SPINAL CURVES
Two of the spine’s most noticeable curves –
the cervical and lumbar curves – are lordotic curves meaning they curve inwardly.
Flexion flattens these curves. Extension magnifies them. When a disc herniates
or bulges, it does so into the concavity of the curve and potentially pushes
on the spinal nerves resulting in pain. Flexion often
allows the disc bulge to move off of the
nerve. Extension often allows the disc bulge to compress
the nerves more. Spine & Sports Rehab Center sets out to help reduce
painful situations like this!
SPINAL MOTION
75% of the flexion and extension movement in the low back is
at the L5-S1 level of the lumbar spine. 20% happens at the
L4-L5 level. Therefore, 95% of flexion and extension of the lumbar spine occurs
at these two lower disc levels. Here, degenerative disc disease (minor and more
advanced) occurs most. In the cervical spine, C5-C6 is the spinal
level where most of the flexion takes place, and C4-C5 is where
most of the extension takes place. Baton Rouge chiropractic
patients need healthy extension!
SPINAL EXTENSION
Spine & Sports Rehab Center respects extension and understands
how it may benefit and hurt. The extensor muscles in the
back weaken and degenerate just like discs degenerate. (1)
Extension helps strengthen these muscles to support the spine. Extension is necessary
for this when the spine is healthy enough to perform extension. Extension to a painful spine may be
harmful. Why? In the cervical spine, flexion reduced disc
protrusion and enlarges the sagittal diameter of the vertebral
canal while extension increased the disc protrusion and narrowed the vertebral canal causing
stenosis. (2) In a degenerative lumbar spine with spinal stenosis, flexion opened
the vertebral canal and relieved pain while extension worsened
the stenosis and triggered pain. (3) Spine & Sports Rehab Center knows
the key to getting the benefits of extension is in knowing
when to apply extension.
Baton Rouge CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION
Baton Rouge chiropractic treatment incorporates
extension into the Baton Rouge chiropractic treatment plan for its benefits.
Cox® Technic used with the cervical spine reduced
intradiscal pressures to as low as 502 mmHg (4) and to as low as -192 mmHg in
the lumbar spine. (5) Extension escalated pressures in the lumbar
spine to 1250 mmHg (the highest amount the transducer could measure).
(4) Dropping intradiscal pressures and back pain is what
Spine & Sports Rehab Center aims to do for its Baton Rouge back pain
patients.
CONTACT Spine & Sports Rehab Center
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. David Atiyeh on the Back
Doctor’s Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. He shares how he helped
a patient whose back pain continues after multiple back
surgeries with flexion distraction which relieves her pain
as the table is flexed not extended.
Schedule your Baton Rouge chiropractic appointment
with Spine & Sports Rehab Center today. Let’s discover
the role extension might play in your back pain recovery and future
back pain control strategy.