Vitamin D and Spinal Health

A few years ago, a study was completed which found possible ties between spinal health and the vitamin D levels that are found in the human body. At the Washington University of St. Louis, a study was done involving 313 patients who were getting ready to undergo spinal fusion surgery. This is obviously not a small surgery to get, as anything in or near the spine is going to be dangerous. The thing that was most concerning to researchers is that fifty seven percent of patients had low enough levels of vitamin D to be considered deficient. The spinal fusion surgery requires the body to create new bone. Without appropriate levels of vitamin D, this may be difficult or nearly impossible to do.
When the study was presented in early 2015, there was some retaliation from the larger medical community for the results. They claimed that the 313 patients may have not been a large enough study group and that the fifty seven percent of people found to have this deficiency may have been a unique and special group. While we fully accept that this is a possibility, we also want our patients to have as much information at their disposal as possible. Many people come into chiropractic offices like Wirth because they do not want to risk surgery or medication. While we aren’t saying we can prevent that from happening in one hundred percent of cases, we do want to always do our best to give you the most recent information so that you can do what you want with it.
With this new finding about vitamin D deficiency in people having to undergo a spinal fusion surgery, some doctors are calling for testing to be done in their patients that would be suggested for this procedure. Some chiropractors argue that appropriate levels of vitamin D may preempt the need for invasive surgeries, as it helps to promote healthy bone growth and many other wonderful things.
Here at Wirth Chiropractic in Greenville NC, we can’t do bloodwork for you but we can certainly help you out in other ways. If you are suffering from back and neck pain but don’t want to jump right to the thought of surgery, then come on in and see just how much a simple spinal adjustment can help you.