Spinal stenosis affects gait…and today they’re working with “smart
shoes” to track gait abnormalities and associated
altered walking patterns! Our Tonawanda chiropractic
patients dealing with spinal stenosis often remark
that they walk differently. That makes sense! Chiropractic Spine Sports And Rehabilitation can help alleviate
Tonawanda back pain and the related effects of spinal stenosis.
SPINAL STENOSIS AND ITS SIDE EFFECTS
Older folks are affected to a greater extent by frailty and locomotive syndrome, and those
who also experience lumbar spinal stenosis find themselves even more
bothered by it. In a study of such patients who were heading
for surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis, all but 1 of the 234
patients were documented to have locomotive syndrome while 24.8% were
documented to be frail. After surgery,
those with frailty displayed improvement in locomotion.
(1) Yet surgery does not necessarily improve gait
for all spinal stenosis patients. Researchers measured the
sagittal vertical axis using a gait motion analysis with lumbar spinal stenosis
patients before and after they had decompression surgery to see
if there was any improvement in spatiotemporal – how and how quickly a person moves
in terms of stride, pace, width of step, etc. - gait parameters. There wasn’t a variation in sagittal vertical axis, but there
was significant change in spatiotemporal parameters. (2) Cox®
flexion distraction treatment produced significant improvement to
lumbar spinal stenosis patients in terms of
enhanced function, symptomatology, and performance-based
mobility. Further all of their subjective improvement outcomes were
statistically and clinically meaningful. (3) This is valuable!
SPINAL STENOSIS AND POSTURE
It’s also beneficial to know
that lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patient’s static spine and pelvic posture are
associated with their symptoms. A new study delved
into the question of how dynamic alignment
of the spine and pelvic might be connected to lumbar spinal
function in the everyday life of LSS sufferers and found
that weak hip or trunk extensor muscles, a more pronounced pelvic
tilt angle, or smaller spinal flexion during gait gave rise to decreased daily-life lumbar function. (4) Chiropractic Spine Sports And Rehabilitation
aims to improve the quality of life for our Tonawanda
spinal stenosis patients and appreciates studies that share
what works. An up-coming study’s goal is to form
a set of data that can assist in defining and/or altering patient treatment plans, indications for surgery, and practices
for post-surgery rehab for lumbar spinal stenosis patients who elect
to have surgery. These patients come with a distinctive set of
issues concerning posture, balance, ambulation biomechanics,
paraspinal muscle quality and fatigue rates, as well as symptoms. (5) All of
these have a role in a lumbar spinal stenosis
patient’s care at Chiropractic Spine Sports And Rehabilitation and outcome.
SPINAL STENOSIS AND BACK PAIN AND SMART SHOES!
To ensure as
good an outcome as viable, technology may come
to the rescue. With lumbar spinal stenosis come gait
abnormalities like reduced gait velocity
and asymmetry due to muscle weakness and pain in the lower extremities. Don’t
worry though. There are “smart shoes” to help. Smart shoes are wearable sensors that can detect
gait variations quicker, easier, and cheaper. (6) In the meantime while their accuracy and cost-effectiveness are explored - since
smart shoes might not be for everyone - the old fashioned in-clinic
tests still work, and Chiropractic Spine Sports And Rehabilitation knows them well!
Find out during your examination!
CONTACT Chiropractic Spine Sports And Rehabilitation
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Nate McKee on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
illustrates how The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management helps ease spinal stenosis and improve
balance.
Make your Tonawanda chiropractic
appointment today to visit us especially if you find
your gait being “off” and/or experience back pain. Spinal stenosis
may be the offender, and Chiropractic Spine Sports And Rehabilitation knows how to deal with it!