The variety of spinal conditions abounds! Your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor is in the know. Spinal Care Clinic welcomes them all! For optimal
relief of pain and limited function, the initial step is recognition of the condition then arrange its proper
treatment. Spinal Care Clinic is experienced in both! This week’s featured
condition is inflammatory back pain, axial spondyloarthritis, and the spine-specific
kind, ankylosing spondylitis.
AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS
Axial spondyloarthritis is an inflammatory back pain condition.
It’s commonly missed as a cause of chronic low back pain while
approximately 1% of the US population has it. Traits
of axial spondyloarthritis include onset before 45 years of
age, morning stiffness, improvement with exercise not rest, alternating
gluteal pain, and good response to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drug treatment. Other features of axial spondyloarthritis
include enthesitis (inflammation of tendons and ligaments as
they insert into bone), dactylitis (inflammation of a toe or finger), peripheral arthritis, extra-articular appearances (like psoriasis,
inflammatory bowel disease, or uveitis), positive for the human leukocyte
antigen B27, and a family history of the disease. Early diagnosis
is important as is referral to a
rheumatologist for evaluation and cooperative care. (1)
Not only is axial spondyloarthritis overlooked in medical offices,
but it is sometimes overlooked in chiropractic offices, too. (2) It’s just not recognized for what it is: an immune-mediated
inflammatory disease. Your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor is aware and looks for it so that typical lapses of time - sometimes years - will not go by between symptom onset and diagnosis. Since it’s
a back pain condition, axial spondyloarthritis can be diagnosed and co-treated
with chiropractic care for effective outcomes.
ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS: A SUBSET OF AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS
SPECIFIC TO THE SPINE
One type of axial spondyloarthritis is ankylosing
spondylitis. Spondylitis is defined as inflammation of the vertebrae.
Interdisciplinary management with chiropractic
and medical care with rehabilitation often works well for
these patients in reducing their symptoms and increasing
musculoskeletal function. (3) Treating this condition requires
gentle care that certified Cox® Technic chiropractic physicians are experienced
in delivering. A case of a 30-year-old male first diagnosed when
he was 12 years old whose condition, despite medical care, led
to fusion of his sacroiliac joints and his
facet joints in the lumbar and cervical spine. The patient underwent chiropractic spinal manipulation of his thoracic, lumbar, and
cervical spine areas and physical therapy stretches for 12 weeks. His advanced
condition responded favorably with some improvement in
pain and flexibility. (4) Another male patient aged 34
years with a 10-year history of AS was treated for 18 weeks with chiropractic spinal manipulation and mobilization. This resulted in a 90% improvement in a disease activity index and an 85%
improvement in a functional index from beginning to end.
(5) Spinal Care Clinic delivers very gentle spinal
manipulation and mobilization in the form of Cox® Technic distraction
decompression. An advanced state of the condition doesn’t
preclude chiropractic care or its subsequent
good outcomes.
CONTACT Spinal Care Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Gabriel Monterrubio on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson. He discusses his use of the Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for treating ankylosing
spondylitis.