Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Research Update: Manual Mobilization Improves Kyphosis
Kyphosis is characterized by extensive flexion (bending forward) of the spine. It usually affects the upper back (the thoracic spine) but may also occur in the neck or lower back. Thoracic kyphosis is sometimes referred to as dowager's hump, humpback or hunchback. Kyphosis is particularly common in older women and can result from disk degeneration (in which the disks lose moisture and shrink), vertebral fractures due to osteoporosis or both.
Now a report published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine (Volume 42, page 129) suggests that gentle spinal mobilization (physically adjusting the limbs, joints or spine), performed by a trained therapist, may provide some benefit for older women with thoracic kyphosis.
Researchers randomly assigned 48 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis (average age 76 years) to three months of rehabilitation, including manual mobilization, taping to cause gentle traction of the thoracic spine and exercises to correct posture, or to a control group that did not receive treatment. The degree of kyphosis, back pain and quality of life were assessed at baseline and at the end of the study.
Kyphosis improved significantly among the women who had manual mobilization when they complied with the treatment regimen. Those who weren't compliant fared as poorly as women in the control group. The treatment groups did not report improvements in back pain or quality of life, however.
Two important points: First, women who had had a recent (within three months) vertebral fracture or who were experiencing fracture symptoms were excluded from this study. Second, these results apply only to this specific program of treatment and are not intended to be an endorsement of chiropractic or physical therapy for kyphosis.
Posted in Back Pain on January 20, 2012
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This is no news to doctors of chiropractic!
Posted by: DrJ | January 20, 2012 6:48 PM