How CRMA is Changing the Spinal Injury and Chronic Pain Industry?

Chronic pain affects over 50 million people in the U.S. If you don’t suffer from some form of pain on a daily basis^[1], this statistic may be meaningless, but for those with some sort of chronic pain, it’s all too real. A report from the American Chiropractic Association stated than in 2018 an estimated 264 million work days were lost due to back pain alone.

Whether you live with pain or not, you can see that 50 million of our fellow Americans suffering every day is a problem. From the grocery store clerk to that sweet older lady at the bank, people in every walk of life live with pain, daily.

Spinal Kinetics is on a mission to change that.

Computerized Radiographic Mensuration Analysis

CRMA® is a specialized technique performed only by Board Certified Medical Radiologists. This method of reading and analyzing x-rays was developed by Spinal Kinetics to locate the actual intersegmental motion in a patient’s spine or neck after sustaining an injury.

Quite in contrast to an MRI which only detects injuries to the disks, CRMA instead focuses on all 220+ ligaments in the spine and can find the actual source of injury with incredible accuracy.

Using CRMA, a healthcare provider such as a Chiropractor, Sports Injury Specialist, Pain Management Doctor, Osteopath, Orthopedic Surgeon or Neurosurgeon can benefit. Once a CRMA is performed, results can be obtained in less than 24 hours and healthcare providers can then know exactly what recovery and rehabilitation program to implement for their patient.

The Current Chronic Pain Industry

The most common source of chronic pain is spinal and neck pain due to an injury – auto accident, workplace injury or some other trauma to the spine.

Why use CRMA, and not the traditional MRI to detect the source of the pain?

First, the MRI was never designed to detect the excessive motion associated with spinal ligament injuries. Plain and simple. MRI is very effective in determining damage to a spinal disk, disk herniation and similar injuries, but focuses on just 23 disks – utterly ignoring the remaining 200+ spinal ligaments. The MRI was never designed to measure ligament laxity and so misses it completely.

So when we speak of an MRI, we’re speaking of a great, effective tool for detecting disk injuries, but when it comes detecting injury to the overall spinal ligaments which are the primary source of chronic pain, it simply falls short.

Read Next: How To Manage Your Life After Being Diagnosed With Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES)

Implementing New Techniques

Any practice in search of bringing the most help for their patients must constantly stay in the know when it comes to technology. The advancements of modern technology – especially in the medical field – are advancing at light speed.

Advancements in healthcare are advancing as well. And any system that can help millions of people feel better is worth knowing about and using. CRMA from Spinal Kinetics can help a professional and patient team know the true source of the pain and with that, a plan to handle the problem can be developed and implemented.

We need to do more for those that raised us. We need to raise our awareness for those suffering from pain.

Melissa Feldman writes about a range of lifestyle topics, including health, fitness, nutrition, and the intersection of them all. She has undergraduate degrees in both teaching and psychology. She spent almost 20 years writing and designing English as a Second Language educational materials, including several textbooks. She has presented the cumulative research of many health topics ranging from dietary supplements to joint pain relief products and topical pain reliever. She is skilled at writing compelling articles and producing academic, marketing and creative content. Melissa currently lives in Toronto, Canada and works as an independent research writer. She has more than a decade of experience reviewing and editing publications intended for both public and professional audiences. You can connect with her on. View all posts by Melissa Feldman