DRX9000 Greensboro, North Carolina Herniated & Degenerative Discs Treatment Chiropractor/Chiropractic Clinic

Causes Of Low Back Pain

Back Facts
Back Anatomy
Causes of Low Back Pain
Testing
Treatment Options

Ligamentous Hypertrophy

Ligaments run up and down the spinal column. Hypertrophy of the ligaments in the vertebral canal (the posterior longitudinal ligament -- runs up and down along the back side of the vertebral bodies, and the ligamentum flavum -- runs up and down under the posterior bone ring made up of the lamina and spinous process) can increase their mass enough that they narrow the canal (stenosis) sometimes to the point that the spinal cord and/or nerve roots running through the canal are compressed. When the posterior longitudinal ligament in front and ligamentum flavum behind the spinal cord hypertrophy the cord is almost "circumferentially" surrounded and compressed).

Hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum laterally near the facet joint can also contribute to foraminal narrowing (stenosis) with potential nerve compression (pinching).

Don’t live life in pain!