Sitka Chiropractic Care Respects Spinal Extension
Extension of the spine: It is beneficial. It’s harmful. So what is up with spinal extension? Both are accurate: It is good. It’s bad. It is the job of your Sitka chiropractor to help you decide the role of extension for your Sitka back pain relief plan and Sitka back pain control plan in the future. Your Sitka chiropractor at Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka is well versed in the effects – good and bad – of spinal extension and respects its role in spinal health and mobility.
SPINAL CURVES
Two of the spine’s most noticeable curves – the cervical and lumbar curves – are lordotic curves meaning they curve inwardly. Flexion flattens these curves. Extension magnifies them. When a disc herniates or bulges, it does so into the concavity of the curve and potentially presses on the spinal nerves resulting in pain. Flexion often allows the disc bulge to get away from the nerve. Extension often allows the disc bulge to compress the nerves more. Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka intends to help decrease painful situations like this!
SPINAL MOTION
75% of the flexion and extension movement in the low back is at the L5-S1 level of the lumbar spine. 20% happens at the L4-L5 level. Therefore, 95% of flexion and extension of the lumbar spine happens at these two lower disc levels. Here, degenerative disc disease (minor and more advanced) happens most. In the cervical spine, C5-C6 is the spinal level where most of the flexion occurs, and C4-C5 is where most of the extension takes place. Sitka chiropractic patients need beneficial extension!
SPINAL EXTENSION
Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka respects extension and gets how it may help and hurt. The extensor muscles in the back weaken and degenerate just as discs do. (1) Extension helps strengthen these muscles to support the spine. Extension is essential for this when the spine is healthy enough to perform extension. Extension to a painful spine may be harmful. Why? In the cervical spine, flexion reduced disc protrusion and maximizes the sagittal diameter of the vertebral canal while extension increased the disc protrusion and narrowed the vertebral canal causing stenosis. (2) In a degenerative lumbar spine with spinal stenosis, flexion opened the vertebral canal and relieved pain while extension exacerbated the stenosis and triggered pain. (3) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka knows the key to getting the benefits of extension is in knowing when to apply extension.
Sitka CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION
Sitka chiropractic treatment integrates extension into the Sitka chiropractic treatment plan for its advantages. Cox® Technic used with the cervical spine dropped intradiscal pressures to as low as 502 mmHg (4) and to as low as -192 mmHg in the lumbar spine. (5) Extension escalated pressures in the lumbar spine to 1250 mmHg (the highest amount the transducer could measure). (4) Reducing intradiscal pressures and back pain is what Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka does for its Sitka back pain patients.
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. David Atiyeh on the Back Doctor’s Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. He shares how he helped a patient whose back pain continues after multiple back surgeries with flexion distraction which gives her relief as the table is flexed not extended.
Schedule your Sitka chiropractic appointment with Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka today. Let us figure out the role extension might play in your back pain recovery and future back pain control strategy.
