Avoid Neck and Back Pain with Grip Strength
Video by Dr. Bryan Stephens
As patients come in with neck and back looking for answers of why it is going on, we take them through a thorough spinal health assessment. One of the tests is for grip strength. I am often asked why we test grip strength when the pain is in the neck and back. The answer is because we care not only about helping you avoid neck and back pain, but we also care about you stay out of pain and getting healthy!
We test the strength for a variety of reasons. The first is because we want to see if there is a difference between the left and right side of the body as it can give more information to the extent of the injury and how the nerve associated with muscle contraction is involved. Another reason we check it is because grip strength is a good predictor of all-cause mortality throughout life. If the grip strength is low, there is a higher incidence of chronic disease noted as well. We want to be able to guide our patients out of pain and into a healthier life with less chance of developing these chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. As we see indicators of decreased health, we can help patients change their lifestyle to lower the inflammation which helps lower neck and back pain and reduce the allostatic load on the body.
Grip strength is only one indicator, but it is an important clue to the overall health of the body. If you are experiencing weakness, don’t put it off and get checked out to ensure that you stay healthy and out of pain!
Reference
Gale, Catharine R., et al. “Grip strength, body composition, and mortality.” International journal of epidemiology 36.1 (2007): 228-235.
Our Message
If you’re looking for a Chiropractor near you that you can trust, choose one who will not only get rid of your back pain, neck pain, or headaches but who will also guide you to living a healthier lifestyle to keep you out of pain. Our Our St. Louis Park Chiropractors, located in the West End near the corner of MN-100 S & Lake Rd., will teach you what the research says about how and why we should eat a better diet, move more and have more positive thoughts. By improving these areas of our lives we can become healthier, stay out of pain and decrease pain!