Spinal Biomechanics and Your Health

 

 

The primary goal of The Frisco Chiropractic Clinic is Biomechanical Restoration and Spinal Rehabilitation.  We recognize the importance of maintaining good spinal health and how much poor spinal health can impact your life.  There are several factors involved with having good spinal health, but we believe that the most important of these, by far, lies in maintaining the normal healthy curvatures that every spine is suppose to have.

 

Unfortunately, in today’s busy pace and stressful work environment, it is becoming increasingly easy to lose the healthy spinal curves that are so important to good overall health.  These normal curvatures give the spine stability, flexibility, and strength.  As you begin to lose the normal curvatures of your spine, you begin to lose the stability, flexibility, and strength of your spine.

 

This can lead to many different problems which can, over time, result in chronic muscle spasms, spinal pain, disc degeneration, spinal arthritis, pressure on spine cord or spinal nerves, radiating pain, abnormal posture, pain in the extremities, reduced or diminished visceral (organ) function, and overall poor health.

 

These conditions arise and are influenced by several spinal abnormalities that are a direct result of this lose of normal curvature.  These problems typically develop gradually over a time frame of several years which is why most people are unaware that they even have a significant health problem developing in their spine.

 

 

 

Deconditioning of the Core and Postural Musculature

 

Lose of the normal curves of the spine force the core muscles to have to work significantly harder to maintain upright posture due to the significant instability of a straight spine.  Long term, this leads to serious deconditioning of the postural and core muscles of the spine, eventually causing these muscles to become weakened and collapse due to overuse.

 

 

Disc Degeneration

 

Another common problem resulting from the lose of normal curvature is the premature degeneration or thinning of the discs between the vertebrae.  The lose of normal curvature causes the discs to wear out much more rapidly than normal due to the abnormal stresses placed on the discs from the abnormal biomechanics placed on them.  You can liken this to a car tire wearing out much faster than normal from being just a few degrees out of alignment for a long time.   This small misalignment places forces on the tire that it was not designed to withstand.  You may not notice it much at all while you are driving, but the constant stress on the tire makes it wear out much faster than the other tires on the car.  Similarly, the discs in your spine will wear out (degenerate) in much the same way.  It is not the fact that there is a large abnormal stress on the discs, but the fact of a constant minimal stress on the discs over a long period of time that causes it to wear out at an accelerated rate.

 

 

 

Spinal Arthritis

 

As the discs continue to degenerate the spine begins to lose motion at that level.  Along with the lose of motion, more of the normal weight bearing is transferred to the facet joints (posterior joints of the spine).  These joints are not designed to be a primary weight bearing structure.  This places undue stress on these important joints causing them to degenerate and become prematurely arthritic.

 

The lose of motion accelerates this process.  All joints of the body require motion to stay healthy.  Motion in the joints allows for exchange of nutrients in the joint.  A lose of motion in a joint of the body allows toxins to build up in the joint itself, diminishing the overall health of the joint ultimately accelerating the degeneration in the affected joint.

 

 

 

Nerve Irritation

 

As the discs continue to gradually degenerate they allow the vertebrae (individual bones of the spine) to move closer and closer together.  This is important because the spinal nerves branch off the spinal cord at each level and exit between these vertebrae through an opening called the inter-vertebral foramina.  As the disc continues to lose height, due to the ongoing degeneration, the vertebrae move ever closer together, leading to the gradual compromise of the nerves as they travel out between them.  This gradual irritation or compression interferes with the nerve ability to conduct information between the CNS (Central Nervous System) and the end organ that the nerve controls.  If the interference is in the nerves that go to your arms or legs the effect is in the form of pain, numbness, weakness, tingling, lose of motor control and eventually lose of muscle itself of the affected area.  If the interference is in a nerve that travels to and supplies an organ (heart, stomach, kidney) you can develop significant lose of the function of that organ just like you do in an extremity.  Lose of function in an organ due to interference of a spinal nerve can go on for years without the person being specifically aware that this is the cause of their health problems.

 

 

 

Localized Spinal Pain

 

Degeneration of the discs can lead to pain in the spine that is unrelated to the nerves, by causing an inflammation in the area of the degenerated disc causing a localized pain response.  This type of pain can be very severe and debilitating on its own.  This localized pain causes the muscles in the area to go into spasms which, after a couple of days, has the effect of increasing the pain and aggravating the overall condition.

 

 

 

Injury Prone

 

A spine that has lost the normal healthy curvatures is also much more prone to injury or re-injury than a spine that has good curves and biomechanics.  This is true due to the significant lose of strength and stability in a straight spine.  This is the person that picks up the groceries and develops low back pain.  The lose of strength  and stability, along with the gradual degeneration of the straight spine leaves these people more and more prone to sudden, unexplained injury as time goes on and these conditions continue to develop.

 

 

 

Tractioning or Tethering of the Spinal Cord

 

Spinal cord stretching or tethering can be a significant problem.  The spinal cord can not withstand more that 10% stretching on a continual basis without developing damage or micro traumas.  In the cervical spine a serious lose of curvature can cause the spinal cord itself to be chronically stretched by more than 20% of its normal length. As just stated this causes microtrauma to the spinal cord, as well as even more irritation or pressure on the spinal nerve roots as they travel out between the vertebrae.  This can, at times, cause pain or problems in areas that initially seem unrelated to the specific spinal condition in question.

 

 

 

Our Purpose

 

The spine is an incredibly adaptable structure.  In some ways this is unfortunate. This is true simply due to the fact that many of these spinal conditions can become quite advance before a person is aware that they even have a problem.

 

This is a quick overview of some of the more common complications the spine can suffer from when it loses its normal curvatures and biomechanics.  From this, I think it becomes obvious that restoring the normal curve to the spine is as important as any health condition you may have.  Re-establishing or restoring the normal spinal biomechanics thru spinal rehabilitation is the purpose of this clinic.

 

 

Dr. Glenn Robinson

Director, Frisco Chiropractic