Lumbar nerve root compression may cause pain and/or weakness for some spinal stenosis and disc herniation patients. Younger patients tend to respond more rapidly to both surgical and non-surgical care. (1) That’s logical as the nerve hasn’t been irritated for very long. Disc herniations tend to occur in our 30’s and 50’s. Fortunately, only 3% to 6% of those are symptomatic. Spinal stenosis tends to bother us in our 50’s and 60’s. Muscle weakness is found in as many as 30% to 50% of disc herniation patients. 80% of disc herniation patients with weakness show improvement with 6 weeks of non-surgical care, 90% at 12 weeks, 93% at 24 weeks. Surgical patients discover that the most clinically significant weakness improvement came within 6 weeks of spine surgery for a disc herniation. 66% of these patients had no improvement after that. (Ghahreman in 1) Motor power improvement can take up to two years after surgery. Some sensory loss is typical but barely noticeable. (1) BONUS: The cost of chiropractic care for a lumbar disc herniation only accounted for 2% of all the money spent, so the researchers recommended a trial of conservative, non-operative care before patients undergo back surgery for a herniated disc. (2) Bring your Richmond back pain and related muscle weakness to Johnson Chiropractic for Richmond conservative care in the beginning.
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Dean Greenwood on The Back Doctor’s Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson about a patient with muscle weakness accompanying a synovial cyst that improved with chiropractic care utilizing the Cox® Technic System.
Keeping bones strong is important, and vitamin C can help! Osteoclasts are bone cells that decay bone tissue. Vitamin C blocks them from doing that. Osteoblasts are cells that bind bone while bone forms. Vitamin C promotes bone regeneration by promoting osteoblast creation. (3) Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin C. They are packed with antioxidants known to influence bone quality. In a new study, vitamin C improved the L5 vertebra’s density! (4) That’s a benefit your Richmond spine specialist loves to hear! Get your vitamin C daily! Eat, or supplement! Let us talk at your next Richmond chiropractic appointment.
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Make your Richmond chiropractic appointment. Johnson Chiropractic is ready to help you reclaim your muscle loss and develop your bones! Thank you for entrusting your spine’s health to Johnson Chiropractic!