St Peters Back Pain, Spine Issues, and Hip Pain: Simple Tests & 3D Imaging
Back pain and hip pain and spine issues merge for many chiropractic patients, bringing them into Old Mill Chiropractic. We’re here to help! Getting older presents some unique challenges for those who suffer with back, hip and spine pain but also some unique positive effects today due to novel approaches to keeping stability and dealing with and easing pain. Your St Peters chiropractor keeps on top of these new approaches and is prepared to help you!
SIMPLE TESTS FOR OLDER ADULTS AND THEIR SPINES
Older folks know that with age comes ‘wisdom’…and its own set of distinctive peculiarities. Different aches and pains arise one morning or mid-afternoon or evening, demanding attention. For those St Peters back pain sufferers who are a little older, hip range of motion and strength may foretell how 12 months down the road a chronic low back pain patient may be performing. Researchers tested this out! Reduced hip strength and range of motion predicted a decline in function a year later. Hip osteoarthritis did not affect these outcomes. (1) Your chiropractor will perform a thorough examination and has some easy-to-do tests of hip strength and range of motion – gait speed, 6-minute walk test, subjective questionnaires, even imaging as necessary - to rule out osteoarthritis.
3D IMAGING BENEFITS
Imaging has come far! Today, 3D MRI images of the spine are now clinically possible. Their advantage is higher spatial resolution, reformation in any plane so the MRI process is faster, and interpretation is more accurate. Pretty cool! Another benefit, especially for back pain sufferers who have undergone back surgery already with metal implants, etc., and now have continued pain is that 3D imaging allows seeing around the metal. (2) Such views can assist doctors in seeing problems at adjacent spine levels.
A SPECIFIC SPINE ISSUE: PISA SYNDROME
Pain issues in one area of the spine can certainly affect other areas and even prompt more pain. A postural disorder some older back pain sufferers may experience is called Pisa Syndrome which is characterized by lateral flexion of the spine greater than 10 degrees which predisposes such folks to falls, a lower quality of life, and greater risk of mortality in neurological diseases. Postural stability exercises are essential for such patients, important enough that they should do these forever to reduce fall risk. (3) Old Mill Chiropractic is all about stability!
CONTACT Old Mill Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Gary Stefanick on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes his use of Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction to ease back pain after back surgery. Back pain specialists like your St Peters chiropractor are equipped to examine, diagnose, and manage post-surgical continued pain.
Schedule your St Peters chiropractic appointment now. St Peters chiropractic patients find kinship with each other when back pain, hip pain, and spine stability are involved as well as help from their chiropractic care. See you soon!
