April 2019 Healthy News: West Des Moines Chiropractic Care Improved Muscle Weakness and Vitamin C for Bone Health

Lumbar nerve root compression may cause pain and/or weakness for patients with spinal stenosis and disc herniation. Younger patients tend to respond more quickly to both surgical and non-surgical treatment. (1) That’s logical as the nerve has not been inflamed as long. Disc herniations are more likely to arise in our 30’s and 50’s. Fortunately, only 3% to 6% of those are symptomatic. Spinal stenosis is more likely to be a nuisance for us in our 50’s and 60’s. Muscle weakness is found in as many as 30% to 50% of disc herniation patients. 80% of disc herniation patients with weakness show improvement with 6 weeks of non-surgical care, 90% at 12 weeks, 93% at 24 weeks. Surgical patients discover 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 occur over the following two years post surgery. Some sensory loss is typical but barely noticeable. (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 West Des Moines back pain and related muscle weakness to Executive Chiropractic of Iowa for West Des Moines non-operative care at the outset.

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Dean Greenwood on The Back Doctor’s Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson about a patient with muscle weakness due to a synovial cyst that improved with chiropractic care utilizing the Cox® Technic System.

Keeping bones strong is important, and vitamin C can be a part of the plan! Osteoclasts are bone cells that break down bone tissue. Vitamin C blocks them from doing that. Osteoblasts are cells that connect bone while bone forms. Vitamin C promotes bone regeneration by promoting osteoblast formation. (3) Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin C. They are full of antioxidants known to impact bone quality. In a recent study, vitamin C increased the L5 vertebra’s density! (4) That is a benefit your West Des Moines spine specialist likes to hear! Consume your vitamin C daily! Eat, or supplement! Let us talk at your next West Des Moines chiropractic appointment.

CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa

Schedule your West Des Moines chiropractic appointment. Executive Chiropractic of Iowa is here to help you regain your muscle loss and build your bones! Thank you for trusting your spine’s health to Executive Chiropractic of Iowa!