July 2021 Healthy News from Aurora Chiropractic Center
Distraction and Patient Education and Exercise
Osteoarthritis in the knee and hip are known and growing concerns as our society gets older…around the world. Currently in 2021, Canada is reviewing the “Good Life with Osteoarthritis in Demark” (GLAD) program for knee and hip osteoarthritis. The program combines manual therapy, exercise and patient education. (1) One GLAD study had patients attend 2-3 patient education classes and 12 supervised exercise sessions over the course of 8 weeks, patients’ pain intensity improved 26-33%, walking speed got better by 8-12%, chair standability improved 18-30%, and joint-related quality of life improved 12-26%. (2) (Another study utilized MRI to determine the thickness of knee joint cartilage after knee joint distraction to document that it thickened with treatment resulting in significant short- and long-term cartilage regeneration up to 10 years after treatment. (3) This was done with young people, but it is hopeful!) Back in 2017, a Canadian chiropractor described the benefit of his utilization of Cox® flexion-distraction-principle-based distraction to the osteoarthritic knee, and the success he’s witnessed in his patients. Inclusively (acute and chronic patients together), patients related a mean visual analog scale score drop from 7.7 to 1.8 in 3 weeks and 5.3 treatments. Acute knee OA patients’ scores dropped from 8.1 to 1.1 in 4.8 treatments in 2.4 weeks. Chronic patients’ scores decrased from 7.5 to 2.2 in 3.3 weeks and 5.4 treatments. (4) Chiropractors like yours at Aurora Chiropractic Center are ahead of the curve with their modified Cox® Technic principles-based-flexion-distraction-approach to knee osteoarthritis. Novel protocols for use in hip OA are also in development. Talk with us today about how distraction treatment may help your Juneau 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 potential as it seems to restrain the loss of disc height, promote tissue hydration for disc repair, and reduce 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 identified, two key ones being chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan and hyaluronan. Making chondroitin sulfate available to the disc in addition to controlling the hydrostatic pressure of the disc is valuable. (6) Cox® Technic is shown to decrease intradiscal pressure, so mixing it with chondroitin sulfate may be, too. Are you taking yours? You may want to think about including a disc supplement that has chondroitin sulfate to your routine after we talk. Aurora Chiropractic Center is ready!
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses the part chondroitin sulfate plays in the health, degeneration and possible regeneration of the intervertebral disc and in the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
CONTACT Aurora Chiropractic Center
Schedule your next Juneau chiropractic appointment with Aurora Chiropractic Center. See you then!