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Hello,
Anyone know if this could be a problem during birth? I went to a chiropractor last summer for pain in my lower back and he told me I had a 6th lumbar vertebrae, (I guess meaning 2 tailbones) and he said it could cause more pain during pregnancy for some and my doctor tells me not to worry. Anybody ever hear of such a thing? TIA, Toni EDD 8/25/04 |
#2
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Steinberg et al. (and PREGNANT WOMEN) Please see the very end of this post.
LUMBARIZATION "Toni" wrote in message ... Hello, Anyone know if this could be a problem during birth? I went to a chiropractor last summer for pain in my lower back and he told me I had a 6th lumbar vertebrae, (I guess meaning 2 tailbones) and he said it could cause more pain during pregnancy for some and my doctor tells me not to worry. Anybody ever hear of such a thing? Toni, The sacrum is a single bone comprised of five sacral vertebrae that are normally fused. (The coccyx - or tailbone - is a much smaller single bone - at the very end of your spine comprised of three to five tiny coccygeal vertebrae that are fused.) Sounds like you are aware that you have a "lumbarization" of your first sacral vertebra (S1) - meaning that the first sacral segment - which is usally fused to the rest of the sacrum - instead *articulates* with the rest of the sacrum - like the last lumbar vertebra does - hence the "6th lumbar vertebra" phrase - but I'm pretty sure that 6th "lumbar" vertebra is a sacral vertebra - so they call it a "sacral lumbarization." (Phew! Long sentence - sorry!) Hopefully Steinberg et al. (see below) will correct me if I am wrong. Here's a photo of an actual sacrum with a partial lumbarization of S1... http://www.usd.edu/~archlab/paleopics/congen/cci.jpg --this sacrum is sideways - S1 is on the left in the photo In one study, roughly 1 in 20 women demonstrated lumbarization. In another study - Steinberg et al's study of Israeli army recruits - frequency of lumbarization was increased in recruits with a history of low back pain. Your doctor of chiropractic may have been thinking that with ligaments hormonally relaxed - as occurs in pregnancy - the lumbarization might cause low back pain. I found NO studies when I searched PubMed for "lumbarization pregnancy" and "transitional vertebra pregnancy." My bet is that your medical doctor is right - you will not suffer more (or any) back pain because of your lumbarization - but there are no guarantees. If you still have your chiropractor's phone number, and are willing to call him/her, I would be interested in any studies s/he knows of that specifically found frequency of lumbarization was increased in pregnant women who suffered low back pain. Here are the two abstracts mentioned above... J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1989 Jun;12(3):200-4. PubMed abstract Prevalence of spondylolisthesis, transitional anomalies and low intercrestal line in a chiropractic patient population. Leboeuf C, Kimber D, White K. Australian Spinal Research Foundation. Five hundred and thirty radiographs were screened for the presence of certain lumbosacral anomalies. The prevalence of spondylolisthesis was found to be 5.1%, lumbarization 6.0%, sacralization 5.5% and low intercrestal line 56.9%. There was no greater prevalence in patients suffering from low back pain when compared against those who did not. There was a propensity for a low intercrestal line among females. Contrary to previous claims that lumbarization is more common in men, we found a moderate predilection for this finding among women. No difference between the two sexes was found in the prevalence of sacralization, contradicting previous claims that is more common in females, nor was spondylolisthesis found more frequently in men, contrary to our expectations. Clin Radiol. 2003 Dec;58(12):985-9. PubMed abstract A comparative roentgenographic analysis of the lumbar spine in male army recruits with and without lower back pain. Steinberg EL, Luger E, Arbel R, Menachem A, Dekel S. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery "B", Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. AIM: To determine whether there is an association between lumbar spine radiographic findings and reported current and/or past lower back pain (LBP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four hundred and sixty-four age-matched (mean age 18 years+/-2 months) consecutive male army recruits were examined. Half of them had a history of episodes of LBP. An orthopaedic evaluation (including radiographs of the lumbar spine) is part of the routine medical examination for all military recruits. Two senior orthopaedic surgeons and one radiologist who performed the morphological measurements assessed the radiographs. RESULTS: We found an increased frequency of right-sided scoliosis, lumbar lordosis, sacral lumbarization, wedge vertebra, bilateral spondylolysis of L5 and/or a sagittal diameter of less than 12 mm among the recruits with LBP. No such association was found with spina bifida, left-sided scoliosis, hemi-lumbarization, sacralization and hemi-sacralization, Schmorl's nodules or mild degenerative changes. CONCLUSION: Given that radiographic screening shows that LBP is more common in those with spinal deformity it may be a reasonable means of predicting which individuals are more likely to develop LBP. I'll copy Steinberg et al. via . Maybe they know for sure whether sacral lumbarization frequency is increased in pregnant women who suffer low back pain. If you do suffer low back pain in your pregnancy, it is possible that gentle spinal manipulation can help relieve it. Talk to your chiropractor of course. (Hopefully he was able to offer you some relief last summer!) Hope this helps. NOTE: I am unlicensed by choice, practicing that huge neglected area of chiropractic (education) for which no license or degree are necessary. LICENSED practitioners - MDs - are rather gruesomely manipulating most babies' spines - and I am working to stop them. See the postscript. Sincerely, Todd Dr. Gastaldo PS Attn Steinberg et al.: Obstetricians and CNMwives are knowingly closing birth canals up to 30%. PREGNANT WOMEN: For PROOF (simple) - and also simple instructions on how to allow your birth canal to OPEN the "extra" up to 30%... See: I ain't no Semmelweis, but... http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group...t/message/2591 |
#3
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The 6th LUMBAR vertebra, as the word lumbar would suggest, is not an outlier of the sacrum nor is it in any way related to the coccyx. It's a recessive genetic trait, particular to certain Anglo/Northern European groups. With no difference in the sacrum, there is simply an extra lumbar vertebra. The vertebra is sometimes subject to "sacralization," or fusing with the sacrum over time, but that can happen to anyone, 5 or 6 lumbar vertebra, regardless. Whoever posted the quoted information above, ought to have their credibility examined. |
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