Normal degeneration of the spine may sound odd
when talking about degeneration, but age meets
us all. Age brings on degeneration normally. Our
Orchard Park, NY chiropractic practice acknowledges and
respects age for its effect on the spine and its role
in disc degeneration and paraspinal
muscle degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. Novelli Wellness Center
treats them gently and effectively, particularly
when our patients participate fully by keeping appointments, exercising, and following suggestions about
supplements that can help. It’s all part of our
Orchard Park, NY 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 contributed much 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 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 larger intervertebral disc height and more severe
vertebral endplate failure may trigger degenerative lumbar
spinal stenosis due to the intensified
mobility of the segment, furthering disc
degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal
stability. (2) Truly, the spine and all its muscles are interconnected.
Novelli Wellness 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 caused 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 seen
to have more fat in them. (4) Novelli Wellness Center realizes
that aging plays 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 is logical that doing less if back
surgery is done would be prudent.
A new study wrote that the addition of fusion
to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis raised
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 noted at surgery. (5)
Less is more frequently when treating back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in decreasing pain. That
is the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Novelli Wellness Center: gentle
spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Novelli Wellness 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 Orchard Park, NY chiropractic
appointment today. There’s no avoiding age or its
accompanying pal, degeneration. If disc degeneration and spinal muscle
degeneration are now your pals, trust Novelli Wellness Center to set you all
on a path of healing.