Normal Degeneration Linked with McHenry Spinal Stenosis
Normal degeneration of the spine may seem odd when discussing degeneration, but age meets us all. Age generates degeneration normally. Our McHenry chiropractic practice acknowledges and respects age for its influence on the spine and its influence in disc degeneration and paraspinal muscle degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic treats them gently and successfully, particularly when our patients participate fully by coming to appointments, exercising, and following suggestions about supplements that can be beneficial. It is all part of the McHenry 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 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 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) In a radiographic study of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis patients, age-related risk factors were noted. 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, progressing disc degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal stability. (2) Indeed, the spine and all its muscles are interconnected. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic 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’s a familiar and recuring condition in spine surgery fields. Disc degeneration is associated with disc inflammation which makes sense as it is avascular tissue. As we humans age, researchers pointed out that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, triggering 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 noted that lumbar degenerative diseases caused paravertebral muscle degeneration with greater 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) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic 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 performed would be wise. A recent study wrote that adding fusion to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis heightened the risk 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 OrthoIllinois Chiropractic: gentle spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
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 McHenry 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 OrthoIllinois Chiropractic to set you all on a path to healing.
