Augusta Chiropractic Care Respects Spinal Extension
Extension of the spine: It’s good. It’s bad. So what is up with spinal extension? Both are accurate: It’s good. It is bad. It’s the job of your Augusta chiropractor to help you decide the role of extension for your Augusta back pain relief plan and Augusta back pain control plan moving past the current episode of back pain. Your Augusta chiropractor at Lombardy Chiropractic 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 prominent 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 get away from the nerve. Extension often permits the disc bulge to press on the nerves more. Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic sets out to help lessen 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% is at the L4-L5 level. Therefore, 95% of flexion and extension of the lumbar spine occurs 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 occurs, and C4-C5 is where most of the extension occurs. Augusta chiropractic patients need beneficial extension!
SPINAL EXTENSION
Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic respects extension and gets how it may benefit and hurt. The extensor muscles in the back weaken and degenerate just like discs degenerate. (1) Extension helps strengthen these muscles to support the spine. Extension is necessary for this when the spine is healthy enough to perform extension. Extension to a painful spine may be harmful. Why? In the cervical spine, flexion reduced disc protrusion and enlarges the sagittal diameter of the vertebral canal while extension increased the disc protrusion and constricted the vertebral canal producing stenosis. (2) In a degenerative lumbar spine with spinal stenosis, flexion opened the vertebral canal and relieved pain while extension exacerbated the stenosis and caused pain. (3) Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic understands the key to getting the benefits of extension is in knowing when to apply extension.
Augusta CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION
Augusta chiropractic treatment incorporates extension into the Augusta chiropractic treatment plan for its advantages. Cox® Technic used with the cervical spine dropped intradiscal pressures to as low as 502 mmHg (4) and to as low as -192 mmHg in the lumbar spine. (5) Extension escalated pressures in the lumbar spine to 1250 mmHg (the highest amount the transducer could measure). (4) Reducing intradiscal pressures and back pain is what Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic aims to do for its Augusta back pain patients.
CONTACT Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. David Atiyeh on the Back Doctor’s Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. He shares how he cared for a patient whose back pain continues after multiple back surgeries with flexion distraction which gives her relief as the table is flexed not extended.
Schedule your Augusta chiropractic appointment with Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic today. Let’s explore the role extension might play in your back pain recovery and future back pain control strategy.
