Burlington and Hamilton Chiropractic Care Respects Spinal Extension

Extension of the spine: It’s beneficial. It is harmful. So what’s with extension for the spine? Both are accurate: It is good. It’s bad. It is the job of your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor to help you establish the role of extension in your Burlington and Hamilton back pain relief plan and Burlington and Hamilton back pain control plan getting past the present episode of back pain. Your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor at Spinal Care Clinic is well versed in the effects – good and bad – of spinal extension and respects its role in spinal health and motion.

SPINAL CURVES

Two of the spine’s most noticeable curves – the cervical and lumbar curves – are lordotic curves meaning they curve concavely. Flexion flattens these curves. Extension magnifies them. When a disc herniates or bulges, it does so into the concavity of the curve and potentially pushes on the spinal nerves causing pain. Flexion often permits the disc bulge to move off of the nerve. Extension often permits the disc bulge to press on the nerves more. Spinal Care Clinic sets out to help decrease painful situations like this!

SPINAL MOTION

75% of the flexion and extension movement in the low back occurs at the L5-S1 level of the lumbar spine. 20% occurs 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) occurs most. In the cervical spine, C5-C6 is the spinal level where most of the flexion takes place, and C4-C5 is where most of the extension takes place. Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic patients need beneficial extension!

SPINAL EXTENSION

Spinal Care Clinic respects extension and gets how it may help and hurt. The extensor muscles in the back weaken and degenerate just like discs do. (1) Extension helps strengthen these muscles to support the spine. Extension is necessary for this when the spine is healthy enough to do extension. Extension to a painful spine may be harmful. Why? In the cervical spine, flexion decreased disc protrusion and enlarges 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 widened the vertebral canal and relieved pain while extension worsened the stenosis and produced pain. (3) Spinal Care Clinic understands the key to eliciting the benefits of extension is in recognizing when to use extension.

Burlington and Hamilton CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION

Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic treatment integrates extension into the Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic treatment plan for its advantages. Cox® Technic used with the cervical spine reduced intradiscal pressures to as low as 502 mmHg (4) and to as low as -192 mmHg in the lumbar spine. (5) Extension increased pressures in the lumbar spine to 1250 mmHg (the highest amount the transducer could measure). (4) Dropping intradiscal pressures and back pain is what Spinal Care Clinic does for its Burlington and Hamilton back pain patients.

CONTACT Spinal Care Clinic

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 persists after multiple back surgeries with flexion distraction which relieves her pain as the table is flexed not extended.

Schedule your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic appointment with Spinal Care Clinic today. Let’s figure out the role extension might play in your back pain recovery and future back pain control strategy.