Spinal stenosis affects gait…and today they’re working with “smart
shoes” to track gait abnormalities and connected
altered walking patterns! Our Plainville chiropractic
patients who have spinal stenosis often comment
that they walk differently. That makes sense! Layden Chiropractic can help alleviate
Plainville back pain and the related effects of spinal stenosis.
SPINAL STENOSIS AND ITS SIDE EFFECTS
Older folks are ever
more affected by frailty and locomotive syndrome, and those
who also experience lumbar spinal stenosis find themselves even more
bothered by it. 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. Post-surgically,
those with frailty exhibited improvement in locomotion.
(1) Yet surgery does not necessarily improve 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 determine
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 change in spatiotemporal parameters. (2) Cox®
flexion distraction treatment delivered 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 important. (3) This is beneficial!
SPINAL STENOSIS AND POSTURE
It’s also good to understand
that lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patient’s static spine and pelvic posture are
linked to their symptoms. A recent study explored the question of how dynamic alignment
of the spine and pelvic might be related to lumbar spinal
function in the everyday life of LSS sufferers and discovered
that weak hip or trunk extensor muscles, a more pronounced pelvic
tilt angle, or less spinal flexion during gait resulted
in reduced daily-life lumbar function. (4) Layden Chiropractic
aims to improve the quality of life for our Plainville
spinal stenosis patients and appreciates studies that disclose
what works. A future study’s goal is to form
a set of data that can assist in defining and/or altering patient treatment plans, indications for surgery, and practices
for post-surgery rehab for lumbar spinal stenosis patients who choose
to have surgery. These patients come with a unique set of
issues regarding posture, balance, ambulation biomechanics,
paraspinal muscle quality and fatigue rates, as well as symptoms. (5) All of
these play a role in a lumbar spinal stenosis
patient’s care at Layden Chiropractic and outcome.
SPINAL STENOSIS AND BACK PAIN AND SMART SHOES!
To ensure as
good an outcome as possible, new tech may be of help. With lumbar spinal stenosis come gait
abnormalities like reduced gait speed and unevenness due to muscle weakness and pain in the lower extremities. Have no fear! “Smart shoes” to
the rescue! Smart shoes are wearable sensors that can identify
gait changes 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 Layden Chiropractic knows them well!
Find out during your examination!
CONTACT Layden Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Nate McKee on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
illustrates how The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management helps ease spinal stenosis and improve
balance.
Make your Plainville chiropractic
appointment today to visit us especially if you find
your gait being “off” and/or have back pain. Spinal stenosis
may be the offender, and Layden Chiropractic knows how to deal with it!