Santa Barbara Chiropractor

You’ve probably heard the old saying, When you consider the alternative, getting old isn’t so bad.” However, it’s nothing to joke about if the aging process is causing you pain! As a chiropractor in Santa Barbara, when it comes to musculoskeletal challenges, I see too many age-related conditions that probably would not have taken place if the exacerbating cause had been treated earlier. Poor posture, improper gait, and repetitive overuse often create undue stress in the back, neck, hip, knees, and even the feet that can produce painful conditions over time. If we only knew then how our aging body would feel today, eh? But, as they say, “hindsight is 20-20.”

Back pain is at the top of the list as the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition to evolve as we age. Age-related back pain is generally the result of spine osteoarthritis, or Spondylosis, a degenerative disorder.

Spondylosis is caused by prolonged deterioration and weight-bearing stress on the spine that, over the years, does harm to the discs, joints, and surrounding ligaments. The area of the body and rate 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 low-amplitude pain and numbness to extensive sensory loss and muscular atrophy.

Repetitive stresses antagonistically affect the cartilage around the joints and can encourage calcium to deposit in the tissues surrounding 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.

Regular chiropractic care and overall chiropractic management has been shown to significantly slow age-related degeneration of the spine whether or not you are suffering from spondylosis. No, “you can’t un-ring a bell” or “turn back the hands of time,” but it isn’t too late to give your spine the consideration it deserves. When it comes to treating the spine, chiropractors are experts! See your Santa Barbara Chiropractor today, for the health of your spine.

Technorati Tags: age-related back pain, chiropractic, chiropractor, spine osteoarthritis