Sarcopenia finds many of us one day if we live long enough! Muscle degeneration comes with aging. Many of us will not avoid it. It is the degeneration and loss of skeletal muscle mass, quality and strength which comes 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 sufferered. (1) New Hampshire Spine and Sport treats older Southern New Hampshire back pain patients to manage their back pain and manage its impact on their lives as they age gracefully.
MUSCLE DEGENERATION AND LIFE EXPERIENCE
Aging and life affect muscle strength. A new study reports that after undergoing 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 had 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 are seen throughout the spine in the long run. Acute changes immediately after injury are seen within the few days following surgery. 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 a recent study of patients over 65 years old, 40% of chronic low back pain patients experienced sarcopenia. 26.6% of the control group (those who did not have chronic low back pain) were affected by sarcopenia. The skeletal muscle mass was smaller and body fat ratio was much higher in the chronic low back pain patients. Lumbar multifidis and erector spine muscles were much reduced in the chronic low back pain group, too. (4) Southern New Hampshire chiropractic patients with sarcopenia have back pain and other issues that chiropractic addresses.
SARCOPENIA PAIN AND OTHER ISSUES’ EFFECTS
New Hampshire Spine and Sport has males and females with sarcopenia and other spinal problems in its Southern New Hampshire chiropractic practice. Sarcopenia in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis was much more prevalent in females than males over 70 years old. In another study, 13.9% of patients had sarcopenia which was accompanied by dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease. They also had lower body weight, body mass, grip strength, and walking distance. These patients felt pain more deeply. (5) Your Southern New Hampshire chiropractor understands this and gently manages their experience of pain and its source with gentle chiropractic treatment and exercise.
CONTACT New Hampshire Spine and Sport
Schedule a Southern New Hampshire chiropractic appointment with New Hampshire Spine and Sport for back pain issues associated with sarcopenia and back muscle degeneration. Aging, back pain and degeneration do not have to keep you from enjoying your life!