Common questions of
Brooks back pain sufferers at Soft Health and Healing Clinic sound
something like this: “What is Brooks degenerative disease?”
(Soft Health and Healing Clinic can describe degenerative disc disease at the drop of a hat!)
and “Can nutrition help?” (“Yes!”)
WHAT IS DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE?
Degenerative disc disease results many
times from typical, age-related changes that take
place in the discs of the spine that produce pain. The spinal
discs function like shock absorbers between the vertebral bones of
your spine. As discs degenerate, they don’t do their job very
well. A discs’ health depends on the health of surrounding
structures as much as its own health. The cartilage endplates perform a vital role in the health of the disc. Unhealthy endplates
do, too, as they may contribute to degenerative
disc disease.
HOW CHIROPRACTIC CARE AND NUTRITION HELP DEGENERATIVE DISC
DISEASE
Chiropractic care at Soft Health and Healing Clinic manages
disc health from both the inside and outside. The disc needs
some special nutritional elements to keep it
healthy and strong, ready to preserve the mobility
of the spine. It requires glucose, glycosaminoglycan,
calcium, magnesium, chondroitin sulfate, and more. It finds
these nutrients via the cartilaginous endplates that surround
it on top and bottom (70%) and from the sides of the disc
(30%). The cartilage endplates of the disc that are adjacent to the
vertebral bodies of the spine feed nutrients to the disc. Permeability of the cartilage endplate
increases as it ages and degenerates. Degeneration of the cartilage
endplate is linked to the start of cell starvation
and death of the disc due to poor nutrition. Degeneration of the cartilage
endplate may well be responsible for mechanical load-induced
dehydration of the disc’s nucleus pulposus and decreased levels
of glucose in the nucleus pulposus (inner gel of the disc)-annulus fibrosus
(outer bands of the disc) connection area. (Read more about disc nutrition with
glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate.) (1) The endplates are vital
to the disc’s health. When the endplates are damaged by
degenerative changes, they cannot do their job of
transporting nutrients into the disc. One study emphasizes this
issue by explaining that severe inhibition in the endplate
nutritional pathways likely leads to intervertebral disc disruption. (2) Further,
a good night’s rest may be good for more than beauty! Lying
down even for a short time allows an
increase in the cervical spine and thoracic intervertebral discs’ hydration volume.
(3) Soft Health and Healing Clinic treats the disc from the inside with
nutrition and the outside with sleep recommendations and spinal manipulation.
Brooks CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT HELPS DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE
While lying down unloads the spine,
dynamic loading of the spine is beneficial, too. How? It returns to those cartilage endplates once again. The ability of the cartilage endplates The
more porous and healthy the endplates are, the more flow of nutrients is permitted. The less
porous, less hydrated, more degenerated the endplates are, the less flow of
nutrients is allowed. Recent research today describes the
benefits of dynamic loading (as opposed to static loading) on nutrient
transport into the disc via cartilage endplates. (4) Chiropractic spinal
manipulation is dynamic treatment of the spine. The protocols of Cox® Technic concentrate
on individual segments of the spine to increase motion where disc
degeneration may be present. It is gentle, relieving
care delivered daily at Soft Health and Healing Clinic!
CONTACT Soft Health and Healing Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Sylvia Hrefna from Iceland on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as she discusses her relieving care with Cox®
Technic of a patient with disc degeneration in her cervical spine, the second
of two cases in this podcast.