Lumbar nerve root compression may produce 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 treatment. (1) That makes sense as the nerve has not been inflamed for very long. Disc herniations are more likely to occur in our 30’s and 50’s. Luckily, only 3% to 6% of them are symptomatic. Spinal stenosis tends to bother us in our 50’s and 60’s. Muscle weakness appears in as many as 30% to 50% of disc herniation patients. 80% of disc herniation patients with weakness demonstrate improvement with 6 weeks of non-operative care, 90% at 12 weeks, 93% at 24 weeks. Surgical patients find that the most clinically significant weakness improvement happened 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 post surgery. Some sensory loss is normal but barely conspicuous. (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 La Grande back pain and related muscle weakness to Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC for La Grande conservative care first.
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 using the Cox® Technic System.
Maintaining strong bones is important, and vitamin C can help! Osteoclasts are bone cells that decay bone tissue. Vitamin C prevents them from doing that. Osteoblasts are cells that connect bone while bone forms. Vitamin C fosters bone regeneration by promoting osteoblast formation. (3) Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin C. They are rich in antioxidants known to impact bone quality. In a recent report, vitamin C improved the L5 vertebra’s density! (4) That is a benefit your La Grande spine specialist loves to hear! Get your vitamin C daily! Eat, or supplement! Let’s talk at your next La Grande chiropractic appointment.
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Schedule your La Grande chiropractic appointment. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC is here to help you regain your muscle loss and develop your bones! Thank you for trusting your spine’s health to Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC!