Sitka 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 Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka. We’re prepared to help! Growing older presents some unique challenges for back, hip, and spine pain patients but also some unique benefits today thanks to new approaches to keeping stability and coping with and reducing pain. Your Sitka chiropractor keeps on top of these novel 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 unique oddities. Different aches and pains rear their heads one morning or mid-afternoon or evening, demanding attention. For those Sitka 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 benefit is higher spatial resolution, reformation in any plane so the MRI process is faster, and interpretation is more precise. 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 viewing around the metal. (2) Such views can help doctors see problems at adjacent spine levels.
A SPECIFIC SPINE ISSUE: PISA SYNDROME
Pain issues in one area of the spine can surely impact 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 lesser quality of life, and increased risk of mortality in neurological diseases. Postural stability exercises are important for such patients, essential enough that they should do these forever to decrease fall risk. (3) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka is all for stability!
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Gary Stefanick on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses his use of Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction to ease back pain after back surgery. Back pain specialists like your Sitka chiropractor are equipped to examine, diagnose, and manage post-surgical continued pain.
Set up your Sitka chiropractic appointment now. Sitka chiropractic patients find kinship with each other when back pain, hip pain, and spine stability are involved as well as relief from their chiropractic care. See you soon!
