Chiropractic

Chiropractic Care For Individuals Post Back Surgery or Spinal Fusion

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Individuals that go through severe low back pain caused by degeneration, herniated discs, vehicle, personal, work, and sports injuries, surgery, or spinal fusion is usually a last resort if non-invasive treatments fail to provide relief or not enough relief. Patients try to avoid spinal fusion because it can be an intense experience and requires a year-long recovery period. Unfortunately, individuals still experience discomfort and pain after surgery. Do individuals want to know what other treatment options are available, including chiropractic care?

Doctors will inform post-op patients of the risks involved with chiropractic therapy. However, chiropractic medicine can bring natural pain relief after surgery. Chiropractic treatment requires that an individual be adequately or fully healed before beginning a personalized treatment plan. At Injury Medical Chiropractic and Functional Medicine Clinic, we consult patients post-surgery about the effectiveness of rehabilitation spinal adjustments and physical therapy massage.

Wait Time After Surgery

Spinal fusion surgery involves removing the discs between two or more vertebrae and fusing the bones with metal screws and plates. The objective is to correct conditions like herniated discs and degenerative diseases by immobilizing the spine in that area. It can take at least three months for the vertebrae to fuse for a fully immobilized graft. Once the graft is complete, a few months of physical therapy are recommended to loosen/stretch and strengthen the muscles around the graft. Initial recovery combined with physical therapy typically takes a full year for a complete recovery.

It is during recovery where it can be difficult and for discomfort and pain to present. The reason is patients are recommended to avoid any twisting, bending, over-reaching motions, or the graft could break. This can make an individual take on awkward poses/postures, flexing and contracting muscles incorrectly, causing strain. The result is added discomfort and/or pain.

How Chiropractic Helps

Spinal fusion is not guaranteed to alleviate an individual’s back pain completely. But many do experience discomfort or pain post-surgery. This could be for a little while or longer, depending on their condition or injuries. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment can help bring pain relief through mobilization, manipulation, and massage techniques. Manipulations’ objective is to adjust and/or realign the bones of the spine and other areas of the body. Because of the intricacy of spinal manipulations, many who have undergone back or spinal fusion surgery are hesitant to seek chiropractic treatment. Discuss possible chiropractic care with your physician to determine if the surgical graft is strong enough to withstand spinal manipulations. If the graft is adequately/fully healed and your physician believes it can endure mild adjustments, reach out to a chiropractor to discuss a customized treatment plan.


Body Composition Testing


Poor Leg Skeletal Muscle Mass

The gluteal muscles or buttock muscles are the largest muscle group in the body. Individuals can start losing bone density by their 30s. This increases the risk of injury and further bone density loss. Bone density loss is a natural process, but the process can be accelerated for individuals with under-developed skeletal muscle mass. The health of muscles and bones are closely linked. Researchers found that individuals with less muscle mass than average for their height tended to have narrower and thinner bones. This resulted in limited lower bending strength.

Decreased muscle mass was shown to be linked to balance problems and increased risk of falls. There is a higher prevalence of sarcopenia or muscle wasting for patients with hip fractures and a reduction of leg muscle mass. The combination of:

  • Low muscle mass
  • Low bone density
  • Hip fractures
  • It can have lifelong consequences
References

Fernandez, Matthew et al. “Surgery or physical activity in the management of sciatica: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The European spine journal: official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society vol. 25,11 (2016): 3495-3512. doi:10.1007/s00586-015-4148-y

Keller, Glenda. “The effects of massage therapy after decompression and fusion surgery of the lumbar spine: a case study.” International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork vol. 5,4 (2012): 3-8. doi:10.3822/ijtmb.v5i4.189

O’Shaughnessy, Julie et al. “Chiropractic management of patients post-disc arthroplasty: eight case reports.” Chiropractic & osteopathy vol. 18 7. 21 Apr. 2010, doi:10.1186/1746-1340-18-7

Perrucci, Rachel M, and Christopher M Coulis. “Chiropractic management of post-spinal cord stimulator spine pain: a case report.” Chiropractic & manual therapies vol. 25 5. 6 Feb. 2017, doi:10.1186/s12998-017-0136-0

Szulc, Pawel et al. “Low skeletal muscle mass is associated with poor structural parameters of bone and impaired balance in elderly men–the MINOS study.” Journal of bone and mineral research: The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research vol. 20,5 (2005): 721-9. doi:10.1359/JBMR.041230

Professional Scope of Practice *

The information herein on "Chiropractic Care For Individuals Post Back Surgery or Spinal Fusion" is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Our information scope is limited to Chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, contributing etiological viscerosomatic disturbances within clinical presentations, associated somatovisceral reflex clinical dynamics, subluxation complexes, sensitive health issues, and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions.

We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.*

Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, or contact us at 915-850-0900.

We are here to help you and your family.

Blessings

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN*, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) in Texas & New Mexico*
Texas DC License # TX5807, New Mexico DC License # NM-DC2182

Licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN*) in Florida
Florida License RN License # RN9617241 (Control No. 3558029)
Compact Status: Multi-State License: Authorized to Practice in 40 States*

Presently Matriculated: ICHS: MSN* FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner Program)

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN* CIFM*, IFMCP*, ATN*, CCST
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Dr. Alex Jimenez

Specialties: Stopping the PAIN! We Specialize in Treating Severe Sciatica, Neck-Back Pain, Whiplash, Headaches, Knee Injuries, Sports Injuries, Dizziness, Poor Sleep, Arthritis. We use advanced proven therapies focused on optimal Mobility, Posture Control, Deep Health Instruction, Integrative & Functional Medicine, Functional Fitness, Chronic Degenerative Disorder Treatment Protocols, and Structural Conditioning. We also integrate Wellness Nutrition, Wellness Detoxification Protocols and Functional Medicine for chronic musculoskeletal disorders. We use effective "Patient Focused Diet Plans", Specialized Chiropractic Techniques, Mobility-Agility Training, Cross-Fit Protocols, and the Premier "PUSH Functional Fitness System" to treat patients suffering from various injuries and health problems. Ultimately, I am here to serve my patients and community as a Chiropractor passionately restoring functional life and facilitating living through increased mobility. Purpose & Passions: I am a Doctor of Chiropractic specializing in progressive cutting-edge therapies and functional rehabilitation procedures focused on clinical physiology, total health, functional strength training, functional medicine, and complete conditioning. We focus on restoring normal body functions after neck, back, spinal and soft tissue injuries. We use Specialized Chiropractic Protocols, Wellness Programs, Functional & Integrative Nutrition, Agility & Mobility Fitness Training and Cross-Fit Rehabilitation Systems for all ages. As an extension to dynamic rehabilitation, we too offer our patients, disabled veterans, athletes, young and elder a diverse portfolio of strength equipment, high-performance exercises and advanced agility treatment options. We have teamed up with the cities' premier doctors, therapist and trainers in order to provide high-level competitive athletes the options to push themselves to their highest abilities within our facilities. We've been blessed to use our methods with thousands of El Pasoans over the last 3 decades allowing us to restore our patients' health and fitness while implementing researched non-surgical methods and functional wellness programs. Our programs are natural and use the body's ability to achieve specific measured goals, rather than introducing harmful chemicals, controversial hormone replacement, un-wanted surgeries, or addictive drugs. We want you to live a functional life that is fulfilled with more energy, a positive attitude, better sleep, and less pain. Our goal is to ultimately empower our patients to maintain the healthiest way of living. With a bit of work, we can achieve optimal health together, no matter the age, ability or disability.

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