Chiropractic Care Shown to Improve Spinal Degeneration
Spinal degeneration is a condition wherein the discs in your spine start to leak fluids, often leading to a bulge or rupture in the disc. Some people who experience this condition simply acquire it due to aging. Some factors have been shown to progress the degeneration such as engaging in difficult physical labor and smoking cigarettes. It can also be caused by an injury such as a fall or car accident.
Spinal degeneration and its resulting conditions can cause serious pain and sometimes even spinal stenosis or osteoarthritis. The pressure put on the spine by the disc can also affect other parts of the body due to the nerves being blocked. Luckily, recent research has shown that chiropractic care can help speed up the recovery process for those with spinal degeneration, bringing hope to the thousands of people who are afflicted with pain every day.
The study, recently published in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, looked at 40 men between the ages of 30 and 40. All of the participants had been diagnosed with degenerative lumbar disease. The participants were split evenly into two groups; the first group received chiropractic treatment while the other group was given a placebo treatment. Prior to the study, pertinent data such as pain levels and mobility was gathered.
Over the course of the study, the chiropractic group received spinal manipulation directed at loosening the muscles in the back and allowing the spinal discs to gently decrease flow of damaging fluids. The second group did not receiving any spinal adjustments or other chiropractic treatments. Researchers found that the group who received chiropractic treatment had immediately improved pain levels, mobility, and hip flexion after only one session. The data for the control group is not known.
Researchers found the study to be promising, as chiropractic continues to become a valuable treatment option for a variety injuries or illnesses. The authors of the study called for further studies on female volunteers in order to see if the results correlate. It is hoped that once more information is gathered, patients suffering with spinal degeneration or one of its many painful results, will be able to find a faster road to re
covery.