Spinal Degeneration Chart

in the office. This chart is called our
spinal degeneration chart. I wanted to
just take a minute and talk about it
because a lot of people come in and they
wonder what their spine looks like.
Ideally, the spine is going to have a
nice arch to it in both the neck and the
low back. And that’s generally between
about 28 to 32° of an arch. What we
should see is nice good spaces where the
discs are, nice flat spaces where the
joints are and there should be the C1
vertebrae should sit above the C7 and or
the lumbar should have a nice arch too.
Now what happens is is when the
vertebrae is out of alignment for a
period of time like this one, you can
see the difference between the curve
here and the straightening of this
vertebrae here. this segment is
dysfunctional because of some type of an
injury either a whiplash, a fall,
repetitive postures over time. And over
time, it will start to wear and tear the
disc and that will start to become
narrower. And as that disc becomes
narrower, it becomes harder and less
hydrated. And the space where the nerve
comes out in the back becomes smaller.
And then over time, it starts to build
up calcium deposits. And that calcium
deposit, sometimes known as a spur, is
just a sign that the deterioration has
been there for a long period of time.
And the next level is it’s phase four
where the joints and the discs start to
grind on one another. And at that point,
usually the chiropractor isn’t the one
you’re seeing. You’re usually seeing the
spinal surgeon or somebody else that can
fuse that area or open up that nerve
hole with a laminctomy. But from phase
three back, we can definitely help with
a patient with chiropractic care, with
decompression care, with shockwave care,
and and then also with some home
exercises can also help as well. So, I
just wanted to cover this chart.