Back Pain

The central support system in your body is your spinal column. Your spinal column is made of 24 vertebrae (spinal bones) that are separated from each other by intervertebral discs (spinal discs). Ligaments cover the entire spine like a shrink wrap. They connect bone to bone and hold the discs in between your spinal bones.

In health, the spine is not a straight column but one with curves and interlocking joints. These curves distribute the weight of your body evenly over the length of this column so that your weight is not all on the bottom joint.

Intervertebral discs serve three very important functions. They absorb the stress and shock the body incurs during movement. They also allow your spine to twist and bend. Lastly, the discs provide space for nerve roots to exit the spinal cord and coordinate function between the brain and the rest of the body.

Healthy discs have a jelly-like material known as the Nucleus contained within a fibrous ring called the Anulus. Intervertebral discs are the largest structures in the adult body without a blood supply. They depend upon a natural pumping mechanism of a healthy spine for their water and nutrients. Compression and flexion during the day pushes the water and nutrients from the discs into the joint space. At night, when we sleep, the weight of the head and shoulders, legs and hips pull the joints open to allow the water and nutrients to reenter the disc.

Sleeping on your stomach, falls, motor vehicle accidents, repetitive stress and sports injuries can upset the balance and operation of the spinal system. Traumas and injuries can stretch ligaments allowing bones and/or discs to move out of their proper position. Bone and disc misalignments can:

1. Place pressure on nerves and cause pain.
2. Place pressure on nearby nerves, interfering with nerve transmissions to or from your brain.
3. Cause surrounding muscles to tighten and lock down the malfunctioning joint to guard it from further misalignment.
4. Cause overtightened muscles that can change the curvature of the spine.
5. Cause inflammation which promotes swelling in the area and pain.
6. Disrupt the natural pumping mechanism that keeps discs nourished and hydrated which will cause the discs to thin.
7. Cause the body to use calcium like a spackle to repair the damage with bridges of bone spurs across the joint space further stiffening the joint.
8. Cause the covering of muscles called fascia, a glycoprotein or sugar protein, to begin to break down and stick together causing adhesions which becomes scar tissue further stiffening the joint.
9. Cause the joints above and below the stuck or fixated joint to stretch more than they should increasing stress on them.
10. Cause weakness to the muscle the motor nerve supplies.
11. Cause the disc’s nucleus to bear more weight and possibly rupture or extrude out of the joint space to where the spinal cord is. If this happens you will need an emergency surgery, as not only will this be painful but can stop organs from functioning properly.

Degenerative changes of the spine occur when an injury has been left to age.  This is why they are common in aging adults.  The definition of degenerate is structural and functional changes, for the worse, over time.

Degenerative conditions of the spine include many names and titles, including but not limited to:

• Degenerative Joint Disease
• Lumbar Disc Herniation
• Lumbar Stenosis
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Spinal Stenosis
• Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Spondylosis

Degenerative conditions of the spine are progressive conditions that continue to get worse if unaddressed.

At Lynch Chiropractic and Chronic Pain Solutions, Dr. Lynch uses a hand-held adjusting instrument to restore motion to stuck and misaligned vertebrae.  The adjusting instrument glides up the spine restoring the curvatures, so it can now evenly distribute the body weight across the spine.

He also uses this instrument to gently bump misaligned discs into their proper positions so they can absorb the stress placed on the spine as you move, serve as a space holder enabling your nerve roots to properly exit the spinal column to restore brain to body and body to brain nerve communication, and allow you to twist, bend and move better.

An aligned spine restores the natural pumping motion of the spine to reduce further degeneration of your disc.  It also allows overtightened muscles to relax, stops the body from making more bone spurs, alleviates pressure off nerves to reduce inflammation and pain, takes pressure and stress off the joints above and below where the misalignments were, and strengthens the muscles the now, unaffected, motor nerves supply.

Other therapy offered may include percussion therapy and rapid release therapy to break up adhesions and scar tissue if they are contributing to your injury, stretching and strengthening exercises to lengthen overtightened muscles, and low level therapy (LLT) a/k/a cold laser, which decreases pain, improves circulation, stimulates stem cells, reduces inflammation and helps heal nerves.

Structure rules function.  By restoring motion to fixated joints of the spine and repositioning the bones and discs back into their proper position, we can stop the wear and tear process and arrest the arthritic changes so you can live your life, stay active and be healthy.

Call (434) 245-8456 and make your appointment today.

We hope to help you.

Three Important Facts

• Degenerative problems of the spine are not a normal part of the aging process. If they were, your whole spine would be breaking down and hurt, not just one area or two.
• Disc conditions occur due to a mechanical malfunction at a joint space.
• The most frequent areas for disc problems are between C5 – T1 and L3 – S1.

Treatment Options for Degenerative Conditions of the Spine that are Different From Our Approach:

Medications and Injections. These are good options to manage pain but do not restore function to the injury. Therefore, the injury will continue to get worse and degenerate.

Spinal Fusion. A surgical procedure that fuses together the vertebrae above and below a disc space. This surgery may get you out of pain. However, the fusion causes extra stress and excessive mobility of the joints above the fusion and below the fusion. The extra stress and excessive mobility can cause spinal problems in the future.

Disectomy. A surgical procedure that removes a damaged disc. When considering this option, please keep in mind that discs serve three very important functions. They absorb the stress and shock the body incurs during movement of the spine. They also enable movement allowing your spine to twist and bend. Lastly, the discs provide space for nerves to exit the spinal column to form the peripheral (outer) nervous system.

Neck and Back Braces. Braces restrict movement and are helpful at times. However, motion in the spine is necessary to be healthy. If you wear a brace too long, the muscles that are being supported will atrophy, or waste away, from underuse.

Radiofrequency Ablation. This is a medical procedure in which a nerve is burned using the heat generated from medium frequency alternating current. Having this done may take the pain away, however, the scar will heal, the pain will most likely return, and the degeneration continues because the cause of the problem remains.

Physical Therapy to strengthen the muscles around a joint but does not restore proper alignment of the spine and/or disc.

Call (434) 245-8456 or fill out the form below for your consultation with Dr. Lynch today. Only by restoring motion to the fixated joints of the spine and repositioning the discs back into their proper position will you stop the wear and tear process so you can live your life and be healthy.