Hollstrom & Associates Inc Shares More Than Bones and Discs: The Surprising Immune Connection Behind Chronic Spinal Pain
YOUR SPINE HAS A DRAINAGE SYSTEM — AND IT MATTERS MORE THAN WE THOUGHT
What's old is new again in the world of back pain research
Remember when your grandparents swore that their joints could predict rain? Science laughed then. Science isn't laughing now. Something just like this is happening with your spine — and the story concerns a system most people don’t think much about: the lymphatic system. Quietly working behind the scenes, this web of fluid-clearing, infection-fighting channels touches almost every tissue in your body — and emerging research suggests it has a front-row seat to everything happening inside your spine. Read on for more of this information that attracted our attention here at Hollstrom & Associates Inc and will attract yours, too!
A DISCOVERY WORTH REVISITING
Back in 2011, researchers Kashima, Dongre, and Athanasou published a discreet but compelling study in Spine journal. (1) They described something surprising: the lymphatic system has a working relationship with spinal discs that nobody had fully mapped before. In other words, rather than bypassing spinal tissue, the lymphatic system appears to be an active player in how disc disease develops and progresses. The research community mostly moved on. Until now.
SCIENCE CATCHES UP — DECADES LATER
Fast forward to 2025, when a study in Pain journal revealed that spinal disc injury in mice set off something noteworthy: germinal center formation. (2) To put that in perspective, germinal centers are the immune system's heavy artillery — the infrastructure your body shapes when it has decided something needs to be hunted down and neutralized. The result? Chronic pain sensitization driven by your own immune response to disc damage.
Then in 2026, a comprehensive review in Bone Research linked things together beautifully, describing the spinal lymphatic system as an dubbing pathway linking fluid balance, immunity, and spinal disease — calling it a critical and formerly underappreciated player in back pain and disc degeneration. (3) Hollstrom & Associates Inc appreciates all these interconnections.
WHY YOU AND YOUR CHIROPRACTOR CARE
As the patient receiving a chiropractic spinal manipulation, here's what you need to know: your spine is so much more than bones and discs held together by mechanics. It's an immunologically active environment where inflammation, fluid drainage, and immune signaling all interact.
Chiropractic care has long emphasized restoring movement, decreasing nerve interference, and supporting the body's natural healing capacity. These new findings suggest that improving spinal mobility may also support healthy lymphatic flow and immune regulation around the discs themselves.
What's old is new again — your chiropractor here at Hollstrom & Associates Inc was caring for the whole system anticipating when science would catch up!
Your spine is smarter than anyone gave it credit to be.
CONTACT Hollstrom & Associates Inc
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Joel Dixon from Australia on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the relief possible for a patient with disc extrusion with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
