Lumbar nerve root compression may cause pain and/or weakness for some spinal stenosis and disc herniation patients. Younger patients tend to respond more rapidly to both surgical and non-surgical treatment. (1) That makes sense as the nerve has not been inflamed as long. Disc herniations are more likely to occur in our 30’s and 50’s. Luckily, only 3% to 6% of those are symptomatic. Spinal stenosis is more likely to bother us in our 50’s and 60’s. Muscle weakness appears in as many as 30% to 50% of disc herniation patients. 80% of disc herniation patients with weakness demonstrate improvement with 6 weeks of non-operative care, 90% at 12 weeks, 93% at 24 weeks. Surgical patients discover that the most clinically significant weakness improvement came within 6 weeks of spine surgery for a disc herniation. 66% of these patients had no improvement after that. (Ghahreman in 1) Improvement in motor power can take up to two years post surgery. Some sensory loss is typical but hardly noticeable. (1) BONUS: The cost of chiropractic care for a lumbar disc herniation only totaled 2% of all the money spent, so the researchers urged a trial of conservative, non-operative care before choosing back surgery for a herniated disc. (2) Bring your St Peters back pain and related muscle weakness to Old Mill Chiropractic for St Peters conservative care at the outset.
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Dean Greenwood on The Back Doctor’s Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson about a patient with muscle weakness accompanying a synovial cyst that improved with chiropractic care using the Cox® Technic System.
Maintaining strong bones is important, and vitamin C can be a part of the plan! Osteoclasts are bone cells that break down bone tissue. Vitamin C prevents them from doing that. Osteoblasts are cells that bind bone while bone forms. Vitamin C promotes bone regeneration by promoting osteoblast formation. (3) Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin C. They are full of antioxidants known to impact bone quality. In a recent report, vitamin C increased the L5 vertebra’s density! (4) That is a benefit your St Peters spine specialist loves to hear! Consume your vitamin C every day! Eat, or supplement! Let’s chat at your next St Peters chiropractic appointment.
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Schedule your St Peters chiropractic appointment. Old Mill Chiropractic is here to help you reclaim your muscle loss and build your bones! Thank you for entrusting your spine’s health to Old Mill Chiropractic!