Call Us at

 

(703) 723-4040 (Ashburn)

Or

(703) 561-0600 (Herndon)

From Chronic Pain to Healing: What Your Ashburn and Herndon Chiropractor Wants You to Know About Recent Discoveries

September 24, 2025

If you suffer with chronic low back pain, you know how bothersome it can be when treatments only deliver transitory relief. Although there's still much to learn, evolving research is shedding light on the reasons behind disc degeneration and investigating potential therapies that might provide better results in the future. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn is keeping close tabs on all of this to help our Ashburn and Herndon back pain patients most effectively.

Understanding Your Disc Health: The Hydration Factor

Your intervertebral discs are like spongy spacers that sit between your spine bones, filled mostly with water-based molecules called proteoglycans. When these discs lose their water content over time, they can't absorb shock as well, contributing to pain and further breakdown. While staying hydrated won't cure disc problems, it may assit your discs' natural function—though we still need more research to fully understand this connection. We can talk more at your next Ashburn and Herndon chiropractic visit about ways to hydrate your discs.

Early Promise: Lab-Grown Disc Components

Chopra and his research group (1) have demonstrated progress in manufacturing "biomimetic proteoglycans"—synthetic copies of your disc's essential materials. In laboratory studies, these engineered molecules can copy some properties of healthy disc tissue. However, these studies are just starting, and it may take time to determine if this treatment will be both safe and effective for people|this research is still in its infancy, and it will likely be some time before we know if this approach can safely and effectively help human patients like our Ashburn and Herndon back pain patients.

Why Decompression Techniques May Help

Your chiropractor may utilize decompression methods – like Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction Decompression which has much research demonstrating reduced intradiscal pressure and enlarged spinal canal area -  or recommend specific positions to reduce spinal pressure. New research by Soubrier's team (2) suggests there may be scientific backing for these approaches: their studies found that reducing pressure on discs for short periods helped prevent some degenerative changes. While this was tested in laboratory conditions, it gives us encouraging support for therapeutic approaches that give your spine periodic relief. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn offers that our treatment with Cox® Technic is documented to reduce pressure!

Exploring Natural Pain Pathways

Some of the most preliminary research by Melrose and colleagues (3) is investigating whether compounds from natural sources, including venoms (wow!), could be developed into targeted pain treatments. This research remains in initial development and centers on learning about pain pathways rather than developing ready-to-use treatments. It may be many years before we see real-world applications, if any emerge at all. Fasincating!

What This Means for Your Current Treatment

While these research developments are encouraging, they don't alter your immediate treatment options. What these findings indicate is:

  • Lifestyle factors like hydration and movement patterns may be more important than we previously understood.
  • Current treatments your chiropractor uses may have stronger scientific support than before.
  • Future treatment options are being researched, though timeline and real-life applicabililty remain uncertain.
  • Managing expectations is critical—breakthrough treatments take time to develop and prove safe.

The reality is that back pain treatment remains challenging, and while research is advancing our understanding, most of these discoveries take time. Your best approach remains working with your Ashburn and Herndon chiropractor at Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn who understands current evidence-based treatments like Cox® Technic while staying informed about emerging research.

CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox, on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management talks about disc degeneration and the back pain that comes with it.

Make your Ashburn and Herndon chiropractic appointment soon.

Back to Nutrition Articles