Usual questions of
McHenry back pain sufferers at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic sound
something like this: “What is McHenry degenerative disease?”
(OrthoIllinois Chiropractic can explain what degenerative disc disease at the drop of a hat!)
and “Can nutrition help?” (“Yes!”)
WHAT IS DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE?
Degenerative disc disease comes oftentimes from normal, age-related changes that happen in the discs of the spine that cause pain. The spinal
discs act like shock absorbers between the vertebral bones of
your spine. As discs degenerate, they do not do their job very
well. A discs’ health depends on the health of surrounding
structures as much as its own health. The cartilage endplates perform a vital role in the health of the disc. Unhealthy endplates
do, also, as they may contribute to degenerative
disc disease.
HOW CHIROPRACTIC CARE AND NUTRITION HELP DEGENERATIVE DISC
DISEASE
Chiropractic care at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic manages
disc health from both the inside and outside. The disc needs
some special nutritional elements to maintain its health and strength, ready to preserve the mobility
of the spine. It requires glucose, glycosaminoglycan,
calcium, magnesium, chondroitin sulfate, and more. It gets
these nutrients via the cartilaginous endplates that border
it above and below (70%) and from the sides of the disc
(30%). The cartilage endplates of the disc that are adjacent to the
vertebral bodies of the spine feed nutrients to the disc. Permeability of the cartilage endplate
increases as it ages and degenerates. Degeneration of the cartilage
endplate is linked to the beginning of cell starvation
and death of the disc due to poor nutrition. Degeneration of the cartilage
endplate may well be responsible for mechanical load-induced
dehydration of the disc’s nucleus pulposus and reduced levels
of glucose in the nucleus pulposus (inner gel of the disc)-annulus fibrosus
(outer bands of the disc) connection area. (Read more about disc nutrition with
glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate.) (1) The endplates are key
to the disc’s health. When the endplates are harmed by
degenerative changes, they cannot perform their job of
transporting nutrients into the disc. One study stresses this
issue by describing how severe inhibition in the endplate
nutritional pathways likely leads to intervertebral disc disruption. (2) Further,
a good night’s rest may be beneficial for more than beauty! Lying
down even for a short time permits an
increase in the cervical spine and thoracic intervertebral discs’ hydration volume.
(3) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic treats the disc from the inside with
nutrition and the outside with sleep recommendations and spinal manipulation.
McHenry CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT HELPS DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE
While resting recumbent unloads the spine,
dynamic loading of the spine helps, too. How? It comes
back to those cartilage endplates once again. Cartilage
endplates’ ability to allow flow of nutrients depends on its porosity. The
more porous and healthy the endplates are, the more flow of nutrients is permitted. The less
porous, less hydrated, more degenerated the endplates are, the less flow of
nutrients is allowed. Recent research today presents the
benefits of dynamic loading (as opposed to static loading) on nutrient
transport into the disc via cartilage endplates. (4) Chiropractic spinal
manipulation is dynamic treatment of the spine. The protocols of Cox® Technic focus
on individual segments of the spine to increase motion where disc
degeneration may exist. It is gentle, relieving
care delivered daily at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic!
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Sylvia Hrefna from Iceland on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as she presents her relieving care with Cox®
Technic of a patient with disc degeneration in her cervical spine, the second
of two cases in this podcast.