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Normal Degeneration Linked with McHenry Spinal Stenosis

Normal degeneration of the spine may sound incongruous when talking about degeneration, but age meets us all. Age brings on degeneration normally. Our McHenry chiropractic practice recognizes and respects age for its effect on the spine and its role 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 keeping appointments, exercising, and taking supplements that can be beneficial. It’s all part of our McHenry 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 lumbar spinal stenosis patients 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 obvious 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 stimulate degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis because of 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 connected. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic looks at them all, to their response to treatment, to their role in the pain.

BACK PAIN AND ITS PALS

Low back pain has associates. 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 recurrent condition in spine surgery fields. Disc degeneration is related to disc inflammation. As we humans age, researchers explained that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, initiating 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 greater levels of intramuscular fat infiltration. Women’s paraspinal muscles were significantly smaller. The erector spinae muscle and multifidus muscle in older aged patients were described as having more fat in them. (4) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic realizes that aging has a role in back pain’s development, path, and treatment.

LESS IS MORE: Treating Aged Back Pain

Since researchers noticed that with age comes fatty infiltration of paraspinal muscles and inflammatory responses in the disc, it makes sense that doing less if back surgery is done would be prudent. A recent study wrote that adding 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 noted at surgery. (5) Less is more frequently when treating 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 soon. 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 get you all on a path to healing. 

 
McHenry degenerative spinal changes  
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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."