Monday, January 25, 2010

How Can Chiropractic Treatment Help My Disc Degeneration?

Disc degeneration is tough because it usually happens over years and years. Over time the discs dehydrate, flatten and bulge. Basically if I have a tire on my car with a slow leak, it’s similar to a lumbar disc with degeneration. Over time it gets flatter and flatter, bulging more so you can clearly tell.

The difference is that you’ll see the tire deflate much sooner, maybe days or weeks, where a disc, you won’t see and may degenerate over years. Just like a tire, wear and tear can cause this and one particular incident can start it off or make it a whole lot worse.

Let’s take my car for example – I’ve had a certain amount of construction being done close to where I park. I must have driven over a large industrial type staple of sorts. Of course I didn’t know this until I made a road trip (about three hours) and the next morning saw that particular tire very flat. I don’t know exactly when it happened, as a matter of fact it could have happened weeks earlier for all I knew, but I knew I came from the construction going on at the time.

Let’s take an example of a patient now – Fred lifts a large box, feels something funny in his back. He ignores it, keeps working and resumes his night as usual. Two days later he notices that same pain but it appears much worse. He knows he has some arthritis in his back (degeneration) because years ago he had an x-ray after a similar injury. Now he is in severe pain the next week and the medications don’t seem to help!


Chiropractic treatment may be able to help!


By putting the spine in as good of alignment as it could be will help. Normal, good alignment is when everything in the spine lines up so that pressure stays off of the nerves and the discs stay in position, healthy and hydrated.

Research has shown us that sometimes, if a problem has exited for years it could take many months or years to fix it. However with the advances in Chiropractic medicine the problem may be able to be fixed much sooner. Your chiropractor can advise you with recommendations to correct your problem, and help to eliminate your pain.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

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Friday, January 22, 2010

Can Going To The Gym Help My Back Pain?

The answer to that question, is that it depends. Not only that, it may depend on a few factors.

First, does movement or light exercise make your back feel better? If so, going back to the workout routine may help. Getting your body moving, blood flowing, muscles loosened, etc. often will help. It really depends on the injury, however. Often I will see a patient who has really strained his back and needs some healing time before working out. If you work out too soon or too hard, you may risk re-injuring your low back; making things worse. This is why some of you reading this may have been sent to physical therapy immediately following an injury and felt like it made you worse. If things aren’t healing and you are pushed too hard or push yourself too hard with certain exercises, you run the risk of re-injury.

What I would recommend is to get things healed first, then slowly start with light exercise, then work up to your usual routine. For a disc issue I would recommend a spinal decompression consultation.

During any particular treatment in our office, whether it's spinal decompression, chiropractic, muscle work, etc. our doctors will advise you on proper exercising for maximum benefit.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in Glastonbury Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression.

Additional Reading Resources:

Monday, January 18, 2010

Back Pain Answers: Alternative To Pain Medication

An article in the Denver Post today talks about alternatives to medication for back pain. I am seeing it more and more lately; patients are often on more medications these days, and not only that the medications seem to be stronger ones too.

“Rather than masking the complaint with painkillers, professional treatments and prescribed exercises provide alternatives that can offer longterm relief.”

--Read More Here--




CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Can My Neck Be Causing My Low Back Pain?

The short answer is YES! And here’s the reason… The brain sits at the top of the head, it’s our control center. Messages from the brain travel down the spinal cord, out the nerves, to every body cell, tissue, organ, and system.

A severed spinal cord in the neck can cause you paralysis or your arms and legs.

Now this would be a severe case that I don’t wish on anyone, but a neck injury that’s to much a lesser extent could affect nerve pathways that control lower body functions as well.

Another interesting fact…

Your brainstem travels down past your first, second, even third vertebrae. This is another reason the neck region is so powerful. At all times there are thousands of nerve impulses taking place in and around the spine. In the brain there are even more. The brainstem is an extension of the brain. Because of this, if there is additional pressure in the neck it can actually inhibit brain impulses.

So, when dealing with pain, whether it’s arm pain, headaches, or lower back pain, we must often look to the neck as well. The neck can often be a hidden cause of various aches and pains, or even more serious health issues.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

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