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SPINAL
DISC PROBLEMS
Why I believe disc
degeneration has very little
to do with chronic low back pain
Ross A. Hauser, M.D.
A patient asked, “will my disc always be degenerated?”
You might say the
question was legitimate but what you don’t know is I spent 10 minutes
explaining why the
MRI
finding of
lumbar disc
degeneration is a nothing (usually).
As I explained to the
patient “Do you want to replace the disc or do you want to correct the
reason the disc became degenerated?” In other words is it better to
just replace the disc (because surgeons can do this now) or correct the
underlying problem that led to the disc degeneration?
You see very seldom is there just one disc that is degenerated, the
condition often affects many discs. Another issue is the underlying
problem that caused the disc degeneration is not fixed by disc
replacement or other surgical procedures. Even
spinal fusion does not fix the
underlying problem. Prolotherapy
can fix it.
The underlying problem typically when someone has disc degeneration is
spinal
ligament weakness. When the ligaments allow excessive movement
of the vertebrae, subluxations,
disc herniations,
and
disc degeneration
begin to occur. Anyone who has a vertebrae that keeps slipping out of
place has vertebral
ligament laxity
may consider Prolotherapy.
Most folks who come to Caring Medical
with
low back pain,
thoracic or
neck pain
have MRI’s that show disc degeneration but seldom is that what is
causing their pain. Here are some
signs/symptoms that allow you to know that your pain is not coming from
the disc problem (none of these is absolute but give a good idea):
-
Pain on either side of the spine not
on the midline
-
Sensation is intact
-
Muscle strength is fine
-
Pain upon lying down
-
Pain is not worse with sitting
-
Pain is not worse with bending over
-
Numbiness
(tingling down the arm but sensation is ok)
-
Cracking
All of the above symptoms suggest ligament
laxity of spine or
sacroiliac ligament
problems. Disc problems are more indicative if the person has low back
pain for instance that is:
Realize the only way to truly get out of
pain is to stop the process that is causing the body injury. This
process for those in chronic pain is typically either ligament laxity or
what I and my wife
Marion call "connective tissue
deficiency". The latter
involves the breakdown of
collagen in the body. This
often occurs because the body is in a catabolic state because anabolic
hormones are low. Correction of this through natural
hormone replacement, diet, and supplements can relieve some of the pain, but
typically Prolotherapy also has to get done.
Prolotherapy toward the supraspinatous,
interspinus and lumbosacral ligaments is what the person with chronic
low back needs, regardless if disc degeneration shows up on the MRI.
For such a person “yes after Prolotherapy it is possible for the MRI to
look the same, but I suspect your back pain won’t be. You’ll have a
hard time finding it!”
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