Extension of the spine: It’s good. It
So what’s with extension for the spine?
Both are accurate: It’s good. It’s
is the job of your McHenry chiropractor to help you decide the role of extension for your McHenry
back pain relief plan and McHenry back pain control plan in the future.
Your McHenry chiropractor at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic is well experienced
in the effects – good and bad – of spinal extension and respects its role in spinal
health and mobility.
Two of the spine’s most noticeable curves –
the cervical and lumbar curves – are lordotic curves meaning they curve concavely.
Flexion flattens these curves. Extension magnifies them. When a disc herniates
or bulges, it does so into the concavity of the curve and potentially presses
on the spinal nerves resulting in pain. Flexion often
allows the disc bulge to move off of the
nerve. Extension often permits the disc bulge to compress
the nerves more. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic wants to help lessen
painful situations like this!
75% of the flexion and extension movement in the low back is
at the L5-S1 level of the lumbar spine. 20% is at the
L4-L5 level. Therefore, 95% of flexion and extension of the lumbar spine happens
at these two lower disc levels. Here, degenerative disc disease (minor and more
advanced) happens most. In the cervical spine, C5-C6 is the spinal
level where most of the flexion occurs, and C4-C5 is where
most of the extension occurs. McHenry chiropractic
patients need beneficial extension!
OrthoIllinois Chiropractic respects extension and gets
how it may help and hurt. The extensor muscles in the
back weaken and degenerate just like discs degenerate. (1)
Extension helps strengthen these muscles to support the spine. Extension is necessary
for this when the spine is healthy enough to do extension. Extension to a painful spine may be
harmful. Why? In the cervical spine, flexion reduced disc
protrusion and maximizes the sagittal diameter of the vertebral
canal while extension increased the disc protrusion and narrowed the vertebral canal producing
stenosis. (2) In a degenerative lumbar spine with spinal stenosis, flexion opened
the vertebral canal and reduced pain while extension exacerbated
the stenosis and triggered pain. (3) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic knows
the key to getting the benefits of extension is in knowing
when to apply extension.
McHenry CHIROPRACTIC USE OF EXTENSION
McHenry chiropractic treatment integrates
extension into the McHenry chiropractic treatment plan for its advantages.
Cox® Technic applied to the cervical spine dropped
intradiscal pressures to as low as 502 mmHg (4) and to as low as -192 mmHg in
the lumbar spine. (5) Extension escalated pressures in the lumbar
spine to 1250 mmHg (the highest amount the transducer could measure).
(4) Reducing intradiscal pressures and back pain is what
OrthoIllinois Chiropractic does for its McHenry back pain
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. David Atiyeh on the Back
Doctor’s Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. He shares how he helped
a patient whose back pain persists after multiple back
surgeries with flexion distraction which relieves her pain
as the table is flexed not extended.
Schedule your McHenry chiropractic appointment
with OrthoIllinois Chiropractic today. Let’s discover
the role extension might play in your back pain recovery and future
back pain control plan.
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER
page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I