Case 2: 68 year old female 50 years of Back Pain
68 year old female presents with 50 years of back pain. Cancer and tumors have been ruled out from her medical doctors. She loves to garden and her husband requires full care. She has 3 children, denies any trauma. Pain started right after High School.
Exam revealed rigidity and Muscle Spasms throughout her entire Lumbar Paraspinals. Her SacroIliac Joints were hardly moving. She had full range of motion and other ROM in Lumbar and Thoracic Spine were within normal limits.
Chiropractic Manipulation has helped her in the past but she didn’t stick with treatment. Recommended 6 weeks of chiropractic care. Re-evaluate after 6 weeks. Treatment Plan consisted of exercise 30 minutes per day. Chiropractic Treatment 3x per week or at minimal 2x per week. Heat for stiff and sore muscles, Ice for painful areas. Myofascial Release using Graston technique and Active Release Technique. Stretching using Strain Counter Strain. Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression to Lumbar Spine starting at 60 lbs of pull increasing by 5 lbs every visit. Aquamassage and Ice therapy post treatment for muscle soreness. Spinning Cycle for 10 minutes after a few visits to warm up back before spinal decompression. She agreed to care.
Patient’s pain went from 8/10 to 1/10 in 12 visits, she is off all her pain medication, she walks, she gardens, she takes care of her husband and continues to improve. This is an amazing case, because of her age, and the degeneration that typically sets into the joints makes these cases very difficult. She was discharged after 20 visits due to Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). This is the purpose of Manual Medicine Doctors, to achieve MMI. If you are a patient and you continue to experience pain, you should get evaluated for a second opinion.
Conclusion, degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease is typically untreatable without pain medication. However, I have found that if you incorporate exercise, nutrition, spinal decompression, and chiropractic manipulation judiciously, you will get the results that I have gotten with this patient. She continues to thrive and exercise. I might of helped add 10 years to her life. This is why I do the work that I do. I love being a chiropractor.
