Beyond Weak Manchester Back Muscles: How Exercise Reverses Hidden Spine Muscle Damage
If you're dealing with chronic back pain from spinal disc issues, the source of your pain may not be what you think—it's rarely just the discs. Your back muscles, particularly the erector spinae running along your spine, can weaken over time as fat gradually replaces healthy muscle tissue. This process weakens your spine's natural support system and adds to ongoing Manchester back pain.
THE HIDDEN PROBLEM: FATTY MUSCLE INFILTRATION
When you have intervertebral disc disease, your paraspinal muscles experience more complex changes than simple weakening—they really change at a cellular level. Research demonstrates that "fatty infiltration of the erector spinae at the upper lumbar spine could be a breakthrough for low back pain" (1). This creates a vicious cycle: disc problems lead to muscle changes, which reduce spinal support, potentially worsening disc health over time.
Disc degeneration and muscle fat infiltration influence each other in a two-way relationship. As noted by Jiang et al. (2), there exists a critical interaction between lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration and fat infiltration of paraspinal muscles, where these conditions affect each other in ways that can continue back pain and dysfunction.
EXERCISE: YOUR PATH TO MUSCLE RECOVERY
The good news? You can reverse this process through targeted exercise. A recent randomized controlled trial found that combined motor control training and isolated extensor strengthening gave superior outcomes compared to general exercise tactics for bettering "lumbar paraspinal muscle health" in chronic low back pain patients (3).
This approach emphasizes retraining how your core stabilizers work as a team while targeting the weakened back muscles. Unlike general exercise programs, these targeted interventions target the core problem—replacing fat with healthy muscle.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR RECOVERY
Working with your Manchester chiropractor at Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries to create an exercise program that incorporates both motor control training and specific strengthening exercises can help reverse the muscle changes associated with your disc problems. As Rosenstein et al. (2025) demonstrated, this comprehensive approach takes on both the mechanical and neuromuscular aspects of your condition, offering hope for long-term improvement rather than just temporary pain relief.
Remember, healing won't happen overnight, but with evidence-based exercises, you can transform deteriorated muscles into strong, pain-free tissue.
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. John Murray on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he details the effectiveness of the gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management combined with exercise.
