Pain and inflammation are known partners.
Spinal manipulation has been utilized to reduce spine
pain, back pain, neck pain, arm pain, and leg pain. New studies show
that the effect of spinal manipulation may extend beyond the spine
to possibly mediate inflammation and its impact
on spine pain. Spinal Care Clinic sees improvement in our spine pain
patients on many fronts: pain reduction,
function improvement, etc. The roles of inflammation in back
pain and of spinal manipulation in reducing that pain is central
to the Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic treatment plan.
BIOMARKERS
Biomarkers are measurable indicators of
body function via tests like blood pressure, urine testing, blood testing,
imaging, etc. Biomarkers can signify normal and abnormal
processes occurring in the body. In the realm of
back pain, researchers have been looking to blood testable
biomarkers like tumor necrosis factor (TNFα), interleukin-1 β (IL-1β), IL-6,
IL-2, interferon (IFN), IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), TNF soluble
receptor type 2 (sTNFR2) and IL-10 to tell the story. A recent biomarker test is brain
imaging. Why brain? Researchers realize
that chronic back pain certainly alters the spine
and suggest that it changes the brain structure. Imaging of the brain is a non-invasive biomarker able
to produce brain resting-state functional connectivity to analyze
such variations. (1) Researchers keep coming
up with new tests! Spinal Care Clinic is following
these biomarker findings watchfully.
BIOMARKER TESTING FOR BACK PAIN
As low back pain continues to dominate
healthcare as one of the most significant contributors to
disability globally, researchers are researching
biomarkers and their role in low back pain. Researchers wondered if there was a difference in the inflammatory
profiles of nonspecific acute and chronic low back pain sufferers. They found
a distinct difference in that there was a
difference between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediator levels noting an overproduction of proinflammatory components in both types of
patients. (2) Another study found that C-reactive
protein in patients with acute non-specific low back pain and TNF-α in chronic
non-specific low back pain patients were elevated. (3) These kinds
of tests may help your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor monitor
your back pain in a new way.
BIOMARKER TESTING OF BACK PAIN RESPONSE TO SPINAL
MANIPULATION
The chiropractic treatment plan at Spinal Care Clinic currently
is based on gentle spinal manipulation to reduce
pain. A blood test study for biomarkers taken at the start of and
2 weeks after such spinal manipulative treatment documented
significant (though limited and diverse) alterations in the
production of several biomarkers in acute and chronic back pain patients. Pain
and disability scores dropped as well. (4) These are encouraging
findings for the use of spinal manipulation for back pain.
Spinal Care Clinic is excited to learn more about
biomarker-level changes with Burlington and Hamilton spinal manipulation!
CONTACT Spinal Care Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses how
use of chiropractic spinal manipulation and Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction may
well surpass pain relief.
Make your Burlington and Hamilton
chiropractic appointment soon. Daily, pain and
inflammation come to our clinic together. Our treatment
helps ease their impact on the lives of
our Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic patients.