Groton Back Pain, Spine Issues, and Hip Pain: Simple Tests & 3D Imaging
Back pain and hip pain and spine issues all come together at once for many chiropractic patients, bringing them into Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office. We are prepared to help! Growing older presents some unique challenges for those who experience back, hip and spine pain but also some unique benefits today thanks to novel ways to keeping stability and coping with and reducing pain. Your Groton chiropractor keeps abreast of these novel approaches and is ready to help you!
SIMPLE TESTS FOR OLDER ADULTS AND THEIR SPINES
Older folks know that with age comes ‘wisdom’…and its own set of distinctive oddities. Different aches and pains rear their heads one morning or mid-afternoon or evening, demanding attention. For those Groton back pain sufferers who are a bit older, hip range of motion and strength may predict how 12 months down the road a chronic low back pain patient may be performing. Researchers tested this out! Reduced hip strength and range of motion predicted a decline in function a year later. Hip osteoarthritis did not affect these outcomes. (1) Your chiropractor will perform a thorough examination and knows some simple tests of hip strength and range of motion – gait speed, 6-minute walk test, subjective questionnaires, even imaging as necessary - to exclude as a diagnosis osteoarthritis.
3D IMAGING BENEFITS
Imaging has come far! Today, MRI images of the spine in 3D are now clinically possible. Their benefit is higher spatial resolution, reformation in any plane so the MRI process is faster, and interpretation is more accurate. Pretty cool! Another benefit, especially for back pain sufferers who have undergone back surgery already with metal implants, etc., and now have continued pain is that 3D imaging makes available viewing around the metal. (2) Such views can assist doctors in seeing problems at adjacent spine levels.
A SPECIFIC SPINE ISSUE: PISA SYNDROME
Pain issues in one area of the spine can certainly affect other areas and even prompt more pain. A postural disorder some older back pain sufferers may have is called Pisa Syndrome which is caused by lateral flexion of the spine greater than 10 degrees which sets them up to falls, a lesser quality of life, and increased risk of mortality in neurological diseases. Postural stability exercises are essential for such patients, essential enough that they should do these always to decrease fall risk. (3) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office is all for stability!
CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Gary Stefanick on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses his use of Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction to ease back pain after back surgery. Back pain specialists like your Groton chiropractor are able to examine, diagnose, and treat post-surgical continued pain.
Set up your Groton chiropractic appointment now. Groton chiropractic patients find kinship with each other when back pain, hip pain, and spine stability are involved as well as help from their chiropractic care. We look forward to seeing you soon!
