West Des Moines Exercise and Manipulation May Help Get Water into Disc

Water is central to the body. Water makes up about half of the body. The spinal disc has around 80% water. Disc degeneration entails the loss of water and disc hydration. Chiropractic manages disc problems like disc degeneration with a variety of approaches. Exercise assists water diffusion into the disc. Spinal manipulation boosts diffusion of water into the disc. Drinking water can’t but help!  Executive Chiropractic of Iowa utilizes spinal manipulation to help our spine pain patients suffering with West Des Moines back pain and neck pain and related leg and arm pain and recommends exercise to increase the effects of spinal manipulation to take care of the spinal disc.

DIFFUSION OF WATER INTO THE DISC VIA EXERCISE

Can exercise help the intervertebral disc in non-specific low back pain sufferers? Researchers described how muscles, tendons and bone do respond well, so they turned to the disc to see if it would.  One new study used imaging to find out. On T2-weighted MRI imaging after six months of exercise in the patient with non specific low back pain, the researchers didn’t find a benefit; however, at 3 months the imaging showed higher L5S1 diffusion coefficients. They did explain that other types of low back pain sufferers may respond differently. (1) That’s noteworthy. The increased 'apparent diffusion coefficients' is promising yet when we consider other articles about diffusion of water into the disc. Wong pointed out that non-specific low back pain patients who responded with greater than 30% relief to spinal manipulation therapy compared with non-responders demonstrated a higher apparent diffusion coefficient for disc diffusion of water. (2) If exercise can boost that even a bit, it has a spot in back and neck pain management. At the very least, a West Des Moines back pain sufferer may well increase the chances of responding to conservative care by maximizing the water content of disc with exercise and spinal manipulation!

West Des Moines SPINAL MANIPULATION AND WATER DIFFUSION INTO THE DISC

Studies of manual therapy and traction effects on the intervertebral disc in back pain patients showed that there is an impact on the physiology (the structure and function) of the disc primarily via water diffusion and molecular transport. Both of these are important for a healthy disc. (3) Beattie wrote that changes in the diffusion of water within the the L1-2, L2-3, and L5S1 discs were seen after only one treatment of spinal manipulation. (4) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa uses the gentle distraction treatment called Cox Technic spinal manipulation to make a push-pull-pumping effect on the disc and its endplates to encourage the disc to imbibe fluid into the disc help our West Des Moines spine pain patients.

CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he further discusses the process of disc degeneration and how Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction helps in its care via manipulation.

Make your West Des Moines chiropractic appointment today. Your body survives on water. Degenerated discs lose water. Executive Chiropractic of Iowa guides West Des Moines chiropractic patients toward healthier discs with spinal manipulation and exercise to coost water content.