Can Manipulation Prevent Spinal Degeneration?

Care for Your Spine as Though You Only Have One!

Children and adults should be taught how to take care of their spines.

Key areas to consider include learning:

• Healthy postures while studying, relaxing, and working
• How to choose appropriate exercises for your body type and condition and to exercise most days
• Exercises that are detrimental to spine health
• Stretching techniques are performed daily to reduce tension that accumulates in your muscles and tissue each day
• How to stretch before and after sports and other activities to prevent injuries
• Proper ergonomics and setting up your work and study areas properly

By addressing issues early, chiropractors can help patients avoid long-term discomfort, improve their quality of life and potentially, slow or prevent degenerative changes in their spines.

While long-term studies linking Chiropractic spinal manipulation and spinal degeneration have not been carried out, there is research to suggest that it may be possible that Chiropractic care can be helpful in preventing or slowing down spinal degeneration.

Segmental Spinal Degeneration & Instability

A recent study released in the journal Bioengineering in April 2025 discusses how small amounts of damage accumulate in the outer spinal discs, beginning in our 20s.

Spinal degeneration (also known as Arthritis or Spondylosis) is a progressive disorder. 

The damage to discs negatively affects how they and their corresponding facet joints function mechanically as well as their positioning.

The term segmental instability is used to explain altered motions and positions of vertebral bones and joints.

As discs degenerate, aberrant motions and motion disorders develop in the spine and degeneration and instability develop at various spinal levels.

Using motion palpation and other tools such as the PulStar®, Chiropractors observe and feel these altered segmental spinal motions in the clinic during examinations and treatment.

Spinal degenerative and segmental instability begins in the early decades of life, progresses as we age and is accelerated by trauma and excessive forces to the spine.

Eventually, spinal vertebrae may become fixed in various altered positions and even translate or move forward (spondylolisthesis) or backwards (retrolisthesis) relative to the bones above or below. Deep muscles attached to the spine become strained as well.

The point at which this progressive segmental instability begins to contribute to episodes of low back pain, if that occurs, is likely to be different from individual to individual.

Another study has demonstrated the strong correlation between degeneration in one spinal disc in the lower back and the levels above or below at certain spinal levels.

The researchers suggest how important prompt treatment is when it comes to disc degeneration to prevent the progression of degeneration to neighboring discs.

Does the Spine Heal after Injury?

Unfortunately, the repair of the spine following injury is inadequate and progressive mechanical insufficiency commonly results.

The outer disc (annulus fibrosus) is known to contain many pain nerve endings that are sensitive to altered strains, deformations, and motions. However, spinal discs have a limited blood supply. For the discs to receive nutrients and remain healthy, diffusion from other tissues is needed and this means that the disc and its joint need to be moving properly.

The researchers suggest that using pain medications to mask pain could be detrimental to already degenerated and injured spinal tissues since a person may continue moving in ways that excessively strain the spine and lead to further degeneration, without being aware of the damage they are doing.  

They also suggest that, considering the long-term disability associated with progressive spinal degeneration, early and aggressive treatment as early as possible is preferable over delayed treatment, waiting until the disc disruption has progressed to a more detectable status.

Some Indirect Research of Joint Health and People who Crack their Knuckles:

Research has shown that cracking your knuckles does not cause osteoarthritis (OA) — and might even offer some benefits.  Some research has shown that people who crack their thumb joint on a regular basis, develop OA less often in those who do not crack their knuckles.

Dr. Horowitz is not suggesting that we all start cracking our knuckles! She believes that one of the main reasons people crack their knuckles is to release tension that has built up in their tendons.

While we must be careful in extrapolating this research to other joints in the body, it may point to some joint protection when we maintain joint movement as we age.

What we do know as Chiropractors is that:

• Spinal manipulation offers pain relief in most patients
• Spinal manipulation increases the range of motion of individual spinal bones as well as a person’s overall flexibility
• Repeated episodes of low back pain can be halted or significantly reduced in intensity with Chiropractic care

Dr. Horowitz offers a variety of treatment options that are drug-free, non-surgical and natural. She provides personalized care and instructions based on your condition.

This is important because you may be suffering from more than one spine condition simultaneously.

For complicated cases, Dr. Horowitz may need to alter the direction and forces provided on a given treatment day and suggest several types of home care, depending on your symptoms on that day.

The goals of spinal manipulation are to:

• reduce pain and inflammation
• increase segmental and overall spine motion by re-establishing motion that has been lost at the facet joints
• reduce irritation of nerves that carry pain messages
• Relax muscles that are tight or in spasm
• Help prevent further progression of spinal degeneration
• Help to reposition, bring nutrients to the disc, and remove unnecessary pressure on the disc
• Core Muscle Strengthening: to enhance the endurance of the back muscles