July 2021 Healthy News from Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic
Distraction and Patient Education and Exercise
Hip and knee osteoarthritis are known and growing concerns as our society ages…around the world. Today, Canada is evaluating the “Good Life with Osteoarthritis in Demark” (GLAD) system for knee and hip osteoarthritis. The program combines manual therapy, exercise and patient education. (1) In one GLAD study in which patients attended 2-3 patient education classes and 12 supervised exercise sessions over the course of 8 weeks, patients’ pain intensity got better by 26-33%, walking speed improved 8-12%, chair standability improved 18-30%, and joint-related quality of life got better by 12-26%. (2) (Another study utilized MRI to determine the thickness of knee joint cartilage after distracting the knee joint to find that it increased with treatment resulting in significant short- and long-term cartilage regeneration up to 10 years after treatment. (3) This was performed with young people, but it is hopeful!) Back in 2017, a Canadian chiropractor described the benefit of his treatment using Cox® flexion-distraction-principle-based distraction to the osteoarthritic knee, and the success he’s witnessed in his patients. Overall (acute and chronic patients together), patients related a mean visual analog scale score decrease from 7.7 to 1.8 in 3 weeks and 5.3 visits. Acute knee OA patients’ scores dropped from 8.1 to 1.1 in 4.8 treatments in 2.4 weeks. Chronic patients’ scores dropped from 7.5 to 2.2 in 3.3 weeks and 5.4 treatments. (4) Chiropractors like yours at Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic are ahead of the curve with their modified Cox® Technic principles-based-flexion-distraction-approach to knee osteoarthritis. New protocols for use in hip OA are also in development. Let’s talk today about how distraction treatment may help your Augusta hip and knee osteoarthritis!
HOPE FOR DEGENERATED DISCS: Chondroitin Sulfate
Back pain treatment approaches from surgery to manual therapy to exercise to nutrition abound while back pain continues. Injecting hyaluronic acid hydrogel is demonstrating some promise as it seems to curb the loss of disc height, stimulate tissue hydration for disc repair, and decrease inflammation and innervation to ward off more disc degeneration. (5) The nutritional approach continues to hold hope for back pain sufferers as the disc matrix components are known, two key components being chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan and hyaluronan. Making chondroitin sulfate available to the disc in addition to controlling the hydrostatic pressure of the disc is beneficial. (6) Cox® Technic is shown to decrease intradiscal pressure, so combining it with chondroitin sulfate may be, too. Are you including it in your daily supplements? Consider including a disc supplement that has chondroitin sulfate to your schedule after we talk. Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic is ready!
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses the role of chondroitin sulfate in the health, degeneration and possible regeneration of the intervertebral disc and in the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
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Schedule your next Augusta chiropractic appointment with Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic. See you then!