Spinal stenosis affects gait…and today they’re working with “smart
shoes” to measure gait irregularities and associated
distorted walking patterns! Our Fort Wayne chiropractic
patients dealing with spinal stenosis often remark
that they walk differently. That makes sense! Aaron Chiropractic Clinic can help relieve
Fort Wayne 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
affected. 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 enhance gait
for all spinal stenosis patients. Researchers evaluated 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 change in sagittal vertical axis, but there
was significant difference 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 good!
SPINAL STENOSIS AND POSTURE
It’s also beneficial to know
that lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patient’s static spine and pelvic posture are
related to their symptoms. A new study investigated the subject of how dynamic alignment
of the spine and pelvic might be linked to lumbar spinal
function in the daily life of LSS sufferers and discovered
that weak hip or trunk extensor muscles, a greater pelvic
tilt angle, or less spinal flexion during gait resulted
in reduced daily-life lumbar function. (4) Aaron Chiropractic Clinic
aims to improve the quality of life for our Fort Wayne
spinal stenosis patients and values studies that divulge
what works. An up-coming study’s goal is to establish
a set of data that can assist in defining and/or altering patient treatment plans, indications for surgery, and routines
for post-surgery rehab for lumbar spinal stenosis patients who elect
to have surgery. These patients come with a distinctive set of
issues regarding posture, balance, ambulation biomechanics,
paraspinal muscle quality and fatigue rates, as well as symptoms. (5) All of
these contribute to a lumbar spinal stenosis
patient’s care at Aaron Chiropractic Clinic and outcome.
SPINAL STENOSIS AND BACK PAIN AND SMART SHOES!
To make sure that the clinical outcome is as
good an outcome as viable, technology may come
to the rescue. With lumbar spinal stenosis come gait
abnormalities like decreased gait speed and unevenness 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 Aaron Chiropractic Clinic knows them well!
Find out during your exam!
CONTACT Aaron Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Nate McKee on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes how The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management helps ease spinal stenosis and improve
balance.
Make your Fort Wayne chiropractic
appointment soon to visit us especially if you find
your gait being “off” and/or experience back pain. Spinal stenosis
may be the offender, and Aaron Chiropractic Clinic knows how to deal with it!