What is it Maigne Syndrome?
Maigne syndrome AKA Thoracolumbar syndrome, is an irritation of the joint, muscles and nerves where the upper back meets the lower back. This joint in particular can send pain into the hips, groin, buttock/glutes, and wrapping around the lower ribs. Affected individuals feel tingling or pain into these regions especially with prolonged standing or sitting. Interestingly enough, if the pain refers to the hip, there is no obvious movements that reproduce the pain and the range of motion of the hip is typically within normal limits.
Prolonged sitting or standing can have effects on our body. One of these many effects can be compressing nerves that come of the spine and travel through your skin, fascia and muscles. If these nerves get too much irritation they can start to send pain in areas far away from the initial injury location.
What Causes Maigne Syndrome?
Maigne syndrome is technically an irritation of the T12 and L1 vertebra and associated muscles, ligaments and nerves that come out of this level. One reason that this condition is so prevalent is that everybody is built with a natural asymmetry at this part of the spine. The bones in the upper back (thoracic spine) and lower back (lumbar spine) are inherently different. One main difference is a dramatic transition in the facet joints orientation. These natural differences of the joints are a primary cause of this condition but a large secondary contribution is the lack of activity (or exercise) to this area of the spine.
How We Take Care of Thoracolumbar Syndrome?
With an integrated team of Chiropractors, Physiotherapists, Registered Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists and Kinesiologists, we have you covered for your low back-related problems.
Treating Maigne syndrome will require a wholistic view. As we just mentioned, this is a confluence point of the upper back and the lower back. We can thank physics for this, but any deficiency of the upper or lower back can force the transitional segment of T12-L1 to compensate for short comings. When this joint starts to compensate for the upper back being stiff, lack of exercise, lack of stretching, lack of changing of positions daily, sedentary lifestyle in and outside of work, lack of lower back mobility, lack of control of the core, and lack of hip mobility, then the nerves can become irritated and start to cause a constant nagging feeling. Assessment of the upper back, lower back, abdomen and core, hip/knee/foot/ankle are all potential contributing factors to the condition and need appropriate evaluation to see your specific cause.
A combination of different treatments can include:
● Soft tissue manipulation to address muscle tightness and trigger points
● Stretching and exercise to manage between treatments
● Chiropractic adjustments to help with stiff joints in the lower back, hips and other areas that may be compensating
● Acupuncture and massage therapy to decrease stress in the low back area
● Ergonomic changes to your work setting to decrease stress on your low back
If your condition does require further testing or treatment, we can refer you to one of the trusted specialists that we have in our network.
You don’t have to live with Maigne's Syndrome!
Maigne syndrome is one of the greatest imitators. It can present as hip pain, lower back pain, mid back pain, groin pain, or rib pains. The classic confusion occurs when patients feel lower back pain and assume the area where they feel the pain is the area that they are injury. This typically leads to an incorrect diagnosis of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) sprains. Without ruling out Maigne syndrome a stubborn SI joint may take years to get full resolution without addressing the joints above and below the pain. You don’t have to live with Maigne syndrome forever and if you’re suffering from prolonged sitting or standing and back pain; please call us or book online to get assessed and treated for this manageable condition!
Written by: Dr. Vlad Constantinescu, Vancouver Chiropractor
