If you’ve had neck or back pain that you could pinpoint with your finger, or experienced sharp pains when you move, it may be related to the facet joints of your spine.
Bottom Line:
If you’ve had neck or back pain that you could pinpoint with your finger, or experienced sharp pains when you move, it may be related to the facet joints of your spine. It’s easy to think of your facet joints like the “knuckles” of your spine. They are small joints and have a capsule and cartilage pad that glides and slides, allowing your spine to move.
Why it Matters:
As you go through life and your spinal discs go through the aging process, your facet joints end up taking on extra load. Unfortunately, this excess stress and pressure can wear down your facet joints. What results is the beginning of the degenerative process, which means you can end up with adhesions, restricted motion, bone spurs and, well . . . pain.
– The facet joints of your spine slide and glide as you move.
– Restrictions or adhesions in the facets can occur with age and injury.
– Chiropractic adjustments help the facet joints move freely and decrease painful restrictions in motion.
Next Steps:
The facet joints of your spine love to move, and, in fact, movement helps them stay healthy and may even slow down the degenerative process. Chiropractic adjustments can help reduce adhesions on these joints, allowing you to move more freely and with less pain. In our office, we believe that when you’re moving better, you’re feeling better, and we’re proud to be a high-quality healthcare team that helps you stay active!
Disc Issues and Chiropractic
Bottom Line:
Disc herniations, bulges, protrusions and extrusions are some of the most common reasons people visit a Chiropractic centre. Come to think of it, most people visit a Chiropractor not just because they have a disc issue, but because the disc issue has caused a significant impact on their quality of life. Exciting new research showcases what we have witnessed for years: how Chiropractic care provides outstanding results for people dealing with spinal disc issues.
Why it Matters:
Specific Chiropractic techniques are thought to alter the pressure in your spinal discs. Emerging research has shown that by reducing intra-discal (within the disc) stress and opening up the channels that your nerves pass through, you can improve how you feel and stimulate the healing process.
– Keeping your core muscles strong and flexible can decrease your likelihood of suffering a disc bulge or herniation.
– Research has shown Chiropractic to be very effective at reducing pain caused by disc bulges and herniations.
– Chiropractic adjustments were found to be more effective than spinal injections for treating disc issues.
– Combining specific Chiropractic care with non-surgical spinal decompression (NSSD) may be an excellent treatment combination for many patients with disc issues.
Next Steps:
If you have an MRI that shows a disc issue, it does NOT mean that surgery or injections are your only options. A recent study showcased how people with an MRI-confirmed disc herniation received better results with Chiropractic adjustments than with injections. Your body has an incredible ability to heal without drugs or surgery, even from disc herniations, and we’re here to help!
Author: Dr. Michael Bryant