Richmond Chiropractic Care Respects Spinal Extension
Extension of the spine: It’s valuable. It is harmful. So what’s with spinal extension? Both are accurate: It’s good. It’s bad. It is the job of your Richmond chiropractor to help you decide the role of extension in your Richmond back pain relief plan and Richmond back pain control plan in the future. Your Richmond chiropractor at Johnson 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 prominent curves – the cervical and lumbar curves – are lordotic curves meaning they curve inwardly. Flexion flattens these curves. Extension magnifies them. When a disc herniates or bulges, it does so into the concavity of the curve and potentially presses 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. Johnson Chiropractic intends to help reduce 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 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 occurs. Richmond chiropractic patients need beneficial extension!
SPINAL EXTENSION
Johnson Chiropractic respects extension and gets how it may benefit and hurt. The extensor muscles in the back weaken and degenerate just like discs do. (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 hurt. Why? In the cervical spine, flexion decreased disc protrusion and enlarges the sagittal diameter of the vertebral canal while extension increased the disc protrusion and narrowed the vertebral canal causing stenosis. (2) In a degenerative lumbar spine with spinal stenosis, flexion widened the vertebral canal and reduced pain while extension worsened the stenosis and produced pain. (3) Johnson Chiropractic understands the key to getting the benefits of extension is in knowing when to apply extension.
Richmond CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION
Richmond chiropractic treatment incorporates extension into the Richmond chiropractic treatment plan for its advantages. Cox® Technic used with 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 increased pressures in the lumbar spine to 1250 mmHg (the most the transducer could measure). (4) Dropping intradiscal pressures and back pain is what Johnson Chiropractic aims to do for its Richmond back pain patients.
CONTACT Johnson 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 persists after multiple back surgeries with flexion distraction which gives her relief as the table is flexed not extended.
Schedule your Richmond chiropractic appointment with Johnson Chiropractic today. Let’s figure out the role extension might have in your back pain recovery and future back pain control plan.
