February 2023 Healthy News from Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka Spinal Canal Area Englargement 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 reduces, resulting in decreased spinal canal area. With spinal stenosis, a(n) disc bulge, herniated disc, osteophyte, discal cyst, synovial cyst, spinal cyst diminishes the spinal canal area. A new paper explained how chiropractic flexion distraction treatment, namely Cox® Technic spinal manipulation and mobilization, expanded the spinal canal area and created vertebral motions. The new study just published in January 2023 stated that chiropractic flexion distraction enlarged spinal area, height, and width due to increased nerve foraminal area. (1)
Such spinal changes allowed 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 using 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 Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka for a pain-relieving treatment plan!
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Ram Gudavalli, the principal 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 regularly recommended exercises to strengthen spinal, gluteal, and core muscles as a way to round out their in-office chiropractic care. Classic lumbar flexion (Williams) exercises have been standard since the 1930s as they control lumbar extension while improving lumbar flexion with high levels of research evidence (III and IV) support. A common exercise sequence 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 flattening the spine against the floor. The following exercise would be a knee-chest motion (pulling one knee to chest then the other knee then both knees to chest) exercise. (2) There are additional such exercises in the series, but Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka be excited for our new Sitka back pain patients to begin with these simple exercises on day 1 (after we go through a complete examinations and establish a treatment plan, of course). Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka 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 anticipate seeing you and your spine this month!