Does Spinal Degeneration Lead to Disc Herniations? | Research Minute

Hi, I'm Dr. Jeff Lengmaid with this week's research Minute. Disc degeneration and disc herniation specifically are one of the most common causes of low back pain. The question is, is that the only thing that's going on if you have a disc herniation or are there other challenges under the surface? This new paper sought to answer that question and it is titled Correlation between Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, Paraspinal Muscle Atrophy and Lumbar Facet Degeneration in Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation. And what these researchers found was a positive correlation between disc degeneration, multifidus atrophy and having a disc herniation. Now, what does that mean? Well, disc degeneration is the breakdown of a disc over time due to age or injury that makes it less supple, potentially more likely to have a herniation. Multipidus atrophy. Multipidi are the muscles that reside in the gutters around your spine and support your low back. If those are atrophic or they don't have as much strength as they should, if there's fatty infiltration, they're not able to do their job very well. That can lead to further stress, which can increase again, the likelihood of suffering a disc herniation. So how do we put this into practical practice? Well, the researchers cite the fact that extension exercises in strengthening those lower stabilizing muscles around your lumbar spine might be a great place to start if you have suffered a lumbar disc herniation. My name is Dr. Jeff Langmaid and I'll see you next week for another research minute.

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