Sarcopenia finds many of us one day
if we live long enough! Muscle degeneration accompanies aging. Many of us won’t avoid it. Sarcopenia is
the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass, quality
and strength which goes with aging. But back pain severity
is more associated with back muscle
degeneration than sarcopenia. The more back muscle degeneration, the more
back pain is experienced. (1) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa takes
care of older West Des Moines back pain patients to cope
with their back pain and control its impact on
their lives as they age gracefully.
MUSCLE DEGENERATION AND LIFE EXPERIENCE
Aging and life affect muscle strength. A recent
study reports that after experiencing back surgery, post-surgical back pain patients’ MRIs revealed
muscle degeneration in all of them. Type 2 fatty degeneration
was most often seen over other types of changes like inflammation
and scarring. (2) Muscle degeneration contributes to
patients’ experiences of back pain.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson who describes how Cox® Technic helps patients
who have undergone back surgery get their back muscles and
spine back into shape, no matter their age.
BACK PAIN AND MUSCLE DEGENERATION IN OLDER FOLKS
Chronic changes in back muscles occur
throughout the spine eventually. Acute changes right
after injury are seen within a few days.
Researchers set out to figure out if these changes came
before or after the injury. They found that the multifidus
muscle decreased quickly after lumbar injury at the level of
injury. (3) In the latest study of patients over 65
years of age, 40% of chronic low back pain patients experienced
sarcopenia. 26.6% of the control group (those who didn’t have
chronic low back pain) had sarcopenia. The skeletal
muscle mass was much lower and body fat ratio was much higher
in the chronic low back pain group. Lumbar multifidis and
erector spine muscles were much reduced in the chronic low back
pain group, too. (4) West Des Moines chiropractic patients with sarcopenia deal
with back pain and other problems that chiropractic treats.
SARCOPENIA PAIN AND OTHER ISSUES’ EFFECTS
Executive Chiropractic of Iowa sees males and females with sarcopenia
and other conditions in its West Des Moines
chiropractic practice. Sarcopenia in
patients with lumbar spinal stenosis was much more common in
females than males over 70 years of age. In another study,
13.9% of patients were affected by sarcopenia which was accompanied
by dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease. They also had decreased
body weight, body mass, grip strength, and walking distance. These patients felt
pain more deeply. (5) Your West Des Moines chiropractor understands
this and gently handles their experience of pain and its source
with gentle chiropractic treatment and exercise.
CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
Schedule a West Des Moines chiropractic
visit with Executive Chiropractic of Iowa for back pain issues related to sarcopenia and back muscle
degeneration. Aging, back pain and degeneration won’t have to prevent you from enjoying your life!