You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Growing old isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” But, if the aging process is causing you pain, you know that aging is no joke! As a chiropractor in Santa Barbara, when it comes to musculoskeletal challenges, I see too many age-related breakdowns that likely wouldn’t have occurred if the primary cause had been addressed earlier. Poor posture, improper gait, and repetitive overuse frequently produce needless stress in the back, neck, hip, knees, and even the feet that can result in painful challenges over time. If we only knew then how our aging body would feel today, eh? But, as they say, “hindsight is 20-20.”
As you can see from the list of complaints above, there are plenty of musculoskeletal challenges that can, and frequently do, take place as we age, however back pain is one of the most prevalent. Age-related back pain is generally caused by a degenerative disorder known as Spondylosis (spine osteoarthritis).
Spinal osteoarthritis is caused by prolonged erosion and weight-bearing stress on the spine that eventually damages discs, joints, and surrounding ligaments. The specific area(s) and degree of the degenerative process of spondylosis is individual, varying from person to person. The regions likely to be affected are the cervical (neck), thoriacic (mid-back), or lumbar (low back). Depending on the severity of degeneration, Spondylosis symptoms vary from person-to-person as well, and can extend from minor pain and numbness to severe sensory loss and muscular atrophy.
Repetitive stresses adversely affect the cartilage surrounding the joints and can encourage calcium to deposit in the tissues around the vertebrae. Adjacent nerves, blood vessels, and soft tissue can be constricted by these calcific deposits, also called bone spurs. This particular of compression is at the root of Spondylosis.
Even if you are not suffering from spondylosis, regular chiropractic adjustments and overall chiropractic management can noticably delay the aging process of your spine. Even though “you can’t un-ring a bell” or “turn back the hands of time,” but it’s never too late to give your spine the consideration it deserves. Chiropractors are experts when it comes to treatment of the spine. See your Santa Barbara Chiropractor today, for the health of your spine.