What a superb
question! Spine surgeons are not sure what is best for
spinal stenosis, yet
conservative care is earning a higher regard in the medical research! Apple Country Chiropractic
provides
non-surgical care
that
is quite soothing to Williamson spinal stenosis sufferers. Chiropractic patients
in Williamson withspinal
stenosis know come to Apple Country Chiropractic will find our care gentle and
comfortable and applaud the
research and
procedures that make up its administration.
Before going further lets delve
into what is spinal stenosis. Spinal
stenosis is the narrowing of
the spinal canal area.
Lumbar spinal stenosis comes with age for many of us when degeneration of the spine begins to
appear. One reason this happens may be due to how the
spinal elements originally developed. (In some cases people are born with narrow spinal canals.) Spinal stenosis could also be caused by a disc
herniation that is implanting
itself into the spinal canal, taking up the space that is supposed
to be for the spinal nerves. Regardless
of the cause, spinal stenosis’ narrowing is painful.
Often when a surgeon identifies
that a patient has spinal stenosis they will offer surgical choices to open
that narrowed space. There are many procedures
from which you may pick. Decompressive surgery is one such case. It is cost-effective for lumbar spinal stenosis, but surgical and conservative
treatment approaches result in comparable quality of life at one year follow
up.
(1) Spinal fusion is another such selection
to pick from. A Cochrane Database Review, a big deal in the world of
research, reports that there is no significant
difference at 6 months and 12 months post spine surgery for lumbar spinal
stenosis. Cochrane pulled from 12,966 citations to conclude
further that they have very little confidence to determine whether surgical or
conservative care is better for lumbar spinal stenosis. They, therefore, offer
no new clinical practice recommendations for doctors to follow. They do
emphasize though that side-effects
from surgery range from 10% to 24% and side effects from conservative
care, 0%. There
were no side effects from conservative care for lumbar spine stenosis in their
review. Further,
they report that there
were no clear benefits seen with surgery versus no surgery. They warn clinicians to carefully
inform patients about possible treatment options “especially given that
conservative treatment options have results in no reported side effects.”
(2)
Chiropractors like yours
at Apple Country Chiropractic recognize
spinal stenosis and treat it
with
chiropractic care and
spinal manipulation to
conservatively relieve the pain of spinal stenosis. Apple Country Chiropractic is the place
for Williamson conservative care of back pain. Apple Country Chiropractic uses the
Cox Technic system of spinal manipulation to open the spinal canal area by 28%,
allowing the nerves to breathe, and drop intradiscal pressures to as low as
-192mmHg.
(3,4)
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the
DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by
Dr. James M. Cox I."