First, the tough news. It is a basic fact that low back pain, and even neck pain, sufferers have weak spine muscles. La Grande back pain specialists know it and so do La Grande back pain sufferers! The size of low back muscles in chronic low back pain patients is considerably smaller than that in patients whose low back pain has improved. (1) Individuals with chronic low back pain show delayed onset of back muscle activity during hip motion. (2) In addition to weaker low back muscles in patients with chronic low back pain, the fascia (the connective tissue between and overlying muscles in the low back) show reduced shear strain. (3) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC knows this to be an important fact when you want to move! Physical inactivity is associated with narrower lumbar intervertebral discs, with high fat content of paraspinal muscles, and with low back pain and disability. (4) Muscle degeneration occurs soon after injury but only in those patients with poor functional recovery. Treatment, therefore, consisting of spinal manipulation and exercise is important if a whiplash injured person wants to avoid muscle degeneration and chronic pain. (5)

Now, some good news for our La Grande low back pain and weak spinal muscle patients! Weak muscles in the spine can be strengthened and returned to normal function with chiropractic spinal manipulation. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC has also witnessed this daily! 81 low back pain patients got 2 spinal manipulations in one week with the size of abdominal and low back muscles measured using ultrasound on 3 occasions during the care. Pain and disability were also assessed. Incredibly, researchers found increased low back muscle thickness at 1 week with decreased low back pain related disability. These findings provide evidence that clinical improvement following spinal manipulation is associated with increased thickening of the low back muscles. (6) Wong (7) reported in May 2015 that after their first spinal manipulation treatment, patient responders showed statistically significant decreases in spinal stiffness and increases in multifidus muscle (a major low back muscle) thickness. This finding sustained over a 7 day period. NOW NOTE THIS: Your La Grande chiropractor at Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC, in addition to spinal manipulation using Cox Technic, will also develop a home exercise plan for your spine pain relief and recovery. Such exercises, called stability exercises, increase the thickness of abdominal and low back muscles. (8)

In addition to spinal manipulation and spinal stability exercises, your La Grande chiropractor can also use another form of treatment called electrical stimulation of your spinal muscles to increase their strength and thickness and relieve pain. Deckers (9) showed that electrical stimulation of low back muscles, specifically the multifidus muscle, caused these muscles to contract when administered 2 times a week for 20 minutes. After 3 months, 74% of the patients met or exceeded the minimally important change of pain relief and 63% disability relief. The patients reported their quality of life improved in 84% of the cases. This treatment plan, delivered by your La Grande chiropractor, may well reduce your spine pain and disability, improve quality of life, and enable return to work.

Imagine, all the above benefits can be received at Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC. Working with your La Grande chiropractor can reverse your life of spine pain and turn it into one of satisfying quality of life. Contact Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC today.