Healthy News January 2023

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is seemingly one of the most common spinal conditions in the US, afflicting over 500 million people over the age of 62. (1) As researchers grapple with a more systematic approach to dealing with patient care for lumbar spinal stenosis patients, your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor provides gentle, safe, relieving treatment. The latest attempt at a system emphasized that each LSS patient is unique in his/her presentation which limits any algorithm to be “soft guidance” as to its treatment plan based primarily on the LSS patient's pain relief in spinal flexion. (2) Since spinal stenosis is typically a systemic issue, meaning if you have spinal stenosis in the lumbar spine, you likely have it in other spinal areas like the cervical as well, you don’t want to ignore it. Further, lumbar spinal stenosis isn’t a condition that appears and disappears forever. Its pain can be contained, but it’s often “chronic,” meaning it lasts beyond 90 days. Have hope! Spinal Care Clinic is experienced in ways to help with lumbar spinal stenosis relief. One study reported that flexion distraction significantly decreased pain and disability for lumbar spinal stenosis patients. (3) Another study stated that chronic back pain sufferers with moderate to severe symptoms got better the most with the chiropractic technique, Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction Decompression (CTFDD), compared with physical therapy. (4) Those same patients experienced significantly lower pain scores over the following 12 months than did patients who did physical therapy. (5) LSS patients also have altered gait and balance concerns. (1,6) CTFDD helps these things, too! A study about the influence of spinal manipulation on balance issues in LSS patients documented that flexion distraction spinal manipulation improved function, symptoms, and performance-based mobility in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. (6) We also anticipate the outcomes of a prospective data collection study in its second year for follow-up with patients who underwent CTFDD for relief of their LSS-associated back pain. Data collection will be done later this year with findings being published in the years to come. Burlington and Hamilton lumbar spinal stenosis is everywhere, and its relieving partner is your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor here at Spinal Care Clinic!

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Dean Greenwood on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he explains his relieving treatment of a spinal stenosis patient with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.

As a set of researchers establishes a new study to evaluate if a 6-week education and exercise program will improve the walking capacity of lumbar spinal stenosis patients with neurogenic claudication (7), Spinal Care Clinic recommends