Jun 16

Chiropractic Care Helps Contain and Control Back Pain’s Reach

Back pain patients come with all sorts of different issues. Some walk better than others. Some have better muscles than others. Some are more prone to depression than others. Your chiropractor knows this and meets each back pain patient where s/he is and examines each patient to find the difference(s) that make all the difference when designing a relieving treatment plan. Tests like the 6-minute walk test that measures the distance walked in 6 minutes and the TUG (time up to go from a seated position) test can be quite informative of musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health in degenerative lumbar spine patients. Both may be influenced by back pain. (1) Back muscles that weaken and turn fatty (ie, the multifidus muscle) indicate issues with inflammatory and regeneration processes. (Back surgeons don’t like this as a poorer surgical outcome is likely.) (2) Chiropractors understand this and encourage gentle exercise for these back muscles as part of the treatment plan to prevent recurrent back pain that some lumbar disc degeneration patients experience. A new study explained that those who tend to get recurrent back pain were found to move differently, more guardedly, likely to avoid pain. Recurrent back pain patients also experienced higher levels of anxiety, depression, and disability along with a lower quality of life. (3) Your chiropractor welcomes all back pain sufferers with all their peculiarities. Your chiropractor partners with each one throughout the current back pain episode and beyond to control the back pain (physical, mental, and emotional aspects), so it doesn’t control them.  

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Nike Taylor on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson on how she helps a chronic back pain patient with a recurrent episode of back pain via the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to find relief and a sense of control over back pain to minimize recurrent back pain episodes as much as possible.  
                  

TIP OF THE MONTH: SNIFFING SCENTS TO REDUCE PAIN!

An interesting study of chronic low back pain patients found that odor-training helped reduce their pain thresholds. Regular exposure (every 2 hours in the study) to scents like rose, vanilla, peach and chocolate – olfactory training! – helped reduce pain. The researchers suggested that it may help reduce pain ‘chronification’ and quite possibly control general pain via desensitization. (4) What a pleasant addition this could be to the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management! You may want to try sniffing some good scents yourself. Let’s talk at your next visit.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

References for Healthy News – JUNE 2021

Maldaner N, Sosnova M, Zeitlberger AM, Ziga M, Gautschi OP, Regli L, Bozinov O, Weyerbrock A, Stienen MN. Responsiveness of the self-measured 6-minute walking test and the Timed Up and Go test in patients with degenerative lumbar disorders. J Neurosurg Spine. 2021 May 7. doi: 10.3171/2020.11.SPINE201621. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33974372. 

Chen X, Hodges PW, James G, Diwan AD. Do Markers of Inflammation and/or Muscle Regeneration in Lumbar Multifidus Muscle and Fat Differ Between Individuals with Good or Poor Outcome Following Microdiscectomy for Lumbar Disc Herniation? Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2021 May 15;46(10):678-686. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000003863. PMID: 33290379. 

Deane JA, Lim AKP, Phillips ATM, McGregor AH. Symptomatic individuals with Lumbar Disc Degeneration use different anticipatory and compensatory kinematic strategies to asymptomatic controls in response to postural perturbation. Gait Posture. 2021 Apr 2:S0966-6362(21)00122-3. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.03.037. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33980472. 

Gossrau G, Baum D, Koch T, Sabatowski R, Hummel T, Haehner A. Exposure to Odors Increases Pain Threshold in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients. Pain Med. 2020 Oct 1;21(10):2546-2551. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnaa072. PMID: 32289824.