Patients Value Collaborative Care, Information, Validation, and Good Communication Skills During Treatment

Patients Value Collaborative Care

A systematic review of data regarding lower back pain (LBP) patients’ perceived healthcare provider needs found four areas were prominent factors in overall patient satisfaction. These included good communication and shared decision-making, the legitimization of symptoms and information about their cause and treatment, individualized, holistic care with continuity, and greater access to treatment, with lower […]

The Effects of Inflammatory Mediators in IVD Pain—a Review

inflammatory mediators

A review investigating the role of inflammatory mediators in the degeneration of intervertebral discs (IVD) found that in-vitro disc cells exposed to inflammatory conditions can release cytokines and other neurogenic and angiogenic factors and that these, along with the development of nerve and vessel roots within the fissured annular fibrosis (AF), can contribute to the […]

Link Between Annular Fissures and In-growth of Blood Vessels and Nerves

fissures in the annulus fibrosis, model

A recent study found that fissures in the annulus fibrosis can create a biomechanical and chemical environment that is conducive to the ingrowth and formation of blood vessels and nerves, which may contribute to back pain in patients with disc degeneration—particularly of the lumbar segments. An examination and analysis of cadaveric discs used safranin staining […]

Spinal Canal Spacing Predicts Better than Disc Degeneration for Low Back Pain

spinal canal, spinal spacing

In a research paper published in Miltary Medicine, spinal canal spacing was found to be a better predictor in the development of chronic low back pain when compared to intervertebral disc degeneration. 1 These researchers used MRI to look at the role of spinal stenosis, disc degeneration, nerve root compression in low back pain among […]

Study Finds Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy Helps Patients Self-Manage Symptom

MDT, mechanical diagnosis, spine, low back pain

A study of 45 musculoskeletal disorder patients in Japan sought to determine the extent to which mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT) could help patients in the self-management and self-monitoring of their pain symptoms. The results of the study indicate that MDT is effective in helping patients to understand, monitor, and manage their own pain and […]

Dynamic Disk Research – Disk Height and Fluid Flow

dynamic disk

The dynamic disk plays a significant role in the resistance to compression. It is known to physically compress over the course of the day by as much as 20 percent with recovery achieved during sleep or recumbency. Its implications intertwined with back pain. 1 One of the focused investigations into its essential function has been […]

Complex posture and disc herniation – lifting properly important

Posture

Posture and Loading In a signature paper by Broom et al. 1 these authors set out to investigate the effects of complex posture within the act of loading. They used thirty seven motion segments of ovine lumbar spines and subjected them to compressive loading to simulate the event that a human may experience when they […]

MRI Study Finds LF Thickening Not Caused by Age-related Spinal Degeneration

ligamentum flavum, posterior stability, facets

An MRI study of 162 patients with lower back pain (LBP) and/or leg pain (LP) measured and analyzed the thickness of the ligamentum flavum (LF) at different levels of the lumbar spine and concluded that, though the LF thickness increased with the age of the patient, there was no apparent correlation between a decrease in […]

MRI and McKenzie Prone Push-up

prone push-up, MRI

In an article in Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, researchers looked to quantify the hydration changes with the McKenzie prone push-up and MRI. The intervertebral disc supports most of the weight in the upright posture. It is the largest avascular tissue in the human body and is a common source of pain in the case of […]