February 2023 Healthy News from Old Mill Chiropractic Spinal Canal Area Increase and Back Pain Reduction with Chiropractic Care
Do you experience back pain? Spinal stenosis? Degenerative disc disease? Do you know what they have in common (besides pain)? Reduced spinal canal area. With disc degeneration, the disc diminishes, resulting in decreased spinal canal area. With spinal stenosis, a(n) disc bulge, protruding disc, osteophyte, discal cyst, synovial cyst, spinal cyst diminishes the the area of the spinal cancal. A newly published paper explained how chiropractic flexion distraction treatment, specifically Cox® Technic spinal manipulation and mobilization, enlarged the spinal canal area and created vertebral motions. The new study just published in January 2023 reported that chiropractic flexion distraction increased spinal area, height, and width due to increased nerve foraminal area. (1)
Such spinal modifications set the scene for impacted spinal elements like spinal nerves to ‘breathe’ leading to subsequent (though occasionally faster or even immediate for some patients) back pain relief. Outcomes and supporting research like this are the forces behind our use of gentle, safe chiropractic treatment options like Cox® Technic that has research explaining its biomechanical effects on the spine. Bring your stenotic spine and/or degenerated disc to Old Mill Chiropractic for a pain-relieving treatment plan!
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Ram Gudavalli, the main research investigator in Cox® Technic studies, on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he details the research behind The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Back pain sufferers are frequently recommended exercises to strengthen spinal, gluteal, and core muscles as a way to enhance their in-office chiropractic care. Classic lumbar flexion (Williams) exercises have been standard since the 1930s as they limit lumbar extension while improving lumbar flexion, supported by high levels of research evidence. A common exercise series would have a patient lie on the floor, keeping hands along the side of the body and bending the knees with feet flat on the floor, then simply tighten abdominal and gluteal muscles while pushing the spine flat against the floor. The next would be a knee-chest motion (each single knee then both knees) exercise. (2) There are more such exercises in the series, but we’d be thrilled for our new St Peters back pain patients to start with these simple exercises on day 1 (after we examine your spine and establish a treatment plan, of course). Old Mill Chiropractic looks forward to meeting you soon and learning more about your spine, degenerated disc, and/or spinal stenosis and sharing any exercises that may help!
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Have a wonderful February! We look forward to seeing you and your spine this month!