Extension of the spine: It is good. It’s bad.
So what is up with extension for the spine?
Both are accurate: It’s good. It’s
bad. It
is the job of your Manchester chiropractor to help you figure
out the role of extension in your Manchester
back pain relief plan and Manchester back pain control plan moving
past the present episode of back pain.
Your Manchester chiropractor at Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries is well experienced
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 presses
on the spinal nerves causing pain. Flexion often
permits the disc bulge to move off of the
nerve. Extension often permits the disc bulge to compress
the nerves more. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries sets out to help decrease
painful situations like this!
SPINAL MOTION
75% of the flexion and extension movement in the low back is
at the L5-S1 level of the lumbar spine. 20% occurs 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. Manchester chiropractic
patients need beneficial extension!
SPINAL EXTENSION
Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries respects extension and gets
how it may help 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 essential
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 maximizes the sagittal diameter of the vertebral
canal while extension made the disc herniation
larger and constricted 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 triggered pain. (3) Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries understands
the key to getting the benefits of extension is in recognizing
when to apply extension.
Manchester CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION
Manchester chiropractic treatment integrates
extension into the Manchester 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 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
Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries does for its Manchester back pain
patients.
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
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 Manchester chiropractic appointment
with Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries today. Let’s discover
the role extension might play in your back pain recovery and future
back pain control plan.