Extension of the spine: It is good. It
is bad.
So what’s with extension for the spine?
Both are accurate: It is beneficial. It is harmful. It’s the job of your Williamson chiropractor to help you figure
out the role of extension for your Williamson
back pain relief plan and Williamson back pain control plan in the future.
Your Williamson chiropractor at Apple Country Chiropractic 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 resulting in pain. Flexion often
permits the disc bulge to move off of the
nerve. Extension often allows the disc bulge to press on
the nerves more. Apple Country Chiropractic 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% happens 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. Williamson chiropractic
patients need beneficial extension!
SPINAL EXTENSION
Apple Country Chiropractic 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 essential
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 reduced disc
protrusion and maximizes the sagittal diameter of the vertebral
canal while extension made the disc herniation
larger and constricted the vertebral canal producing
stenosis. (2) In a degenerative lumbar spine with spinal stenosis, flexion widened
the vertebral canal and reduced pain while extension worsened
the stenosis and caused pain. (3) Apple Country Chiropractic understands
the key to getting the benefits of extension is in recognizing
when to apply extension.
Williamson CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION
Williamson chiropractic treatment integrates
extension into the Williamson chiropractic treatment plan for its advantages.
Cox® Technic applied to 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 escalated pressures in the lumbar
spine to 1250 mmHg (the highest amount the transducer could measure).
(4) Dropping intradiscal pressures and back pain is what
Apple Country Chiropractic does for its Williamson back pain
patients.
CONTACT Apple Country Chiropractic
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 relieves her pain
as the table is flexed not extended.
Schedule your Williamson chiropractic appointment
with Apple Country Chiropractic today. Let’s figure out
the role extension might have in your back pain recovery and future
back pain control strategy.