New Year Same Spine
Happy New Year ChiroJunkies!
You know the saying New Year, New Me. The New Year is always a time of re-evaluating the previous year, and putting it to bed in order to usher in something new, exciting, and maybe a little different. I’m no exception, New Year, New ChiroJunky! Creating a website home for ChiroJunky was a goal from it’s creation in 2019. I wanted to create a space that makes chiropractic appealing to more diverse demographics and to initiate conversation about true health and real wellness and how chiropractic, not only fits in, but should be the authority on that paradigm. Wellness, alignment, and holistic were trend words in 2022, but chiropractic was largely missing from the thread. Why is that? From my observation, as chiropractors we spend more time talking to one another than we do speaking to our communities. For two, without large hospital systems, or corporate structure that employ chiropractors, many of us are small business owners with very little time for things that don’t directly & immediately grow our businesses-i.e. bring us patients. Whatever the reason, I believe chiropractic has to be a part of this health and wellness boom.
Same Spine
Every December 31st as the year turns another age, your spine also grow older. Though some organs tissues have the ability to regenerate, like the liver, the spine ages and degenerates overtime.
The spine is the weight-baring back one of the body. It is made up of 33 individual bones called vertebrae, which are separated into sections called the cervical (neck), thoracic, (midback), and lumbar (low back). Situated between the bony vertebrae are the disc that act of absorbers of the body. Each disc is composed of a jelly-like center called the nucleus pupolsis and a tough outer layer called the annulus fibrosus, which together resist the directional forces of movement.
The spine has several functions that maintain us through life. Not only does the spine keep you erect and upright for walking, it also maintain your stability when you are sitting or reclining. Without the spine you would not be able to move and interact with your environment! The spine also serves to protect the spinal cord, by completely encasing it in bone, the same way your skull protect your brain. Tiny openings between adjacent vertebrae allow spinal nerves that emanate from the spinal cord to travel all over the body. These nerves provide motion instructions from the brain to body and sensory information from the body to the brain and allow for coordinated reflexes, most of which happen automatically without conscious thought. Imagine if there was interference or disruption of this system!
Around the age of 35 the spine begins to slowly degenerate. This degeneration is believed to begin with the discs and then affect the surrounding vertebrae structures. Degeneration of the spine is characterized by biochemical changes that affect the way the disc maintains a balance building and breaking down itself. As the disc dehydrates, degenerative changes occurs in the tiny landmarks that make up the boney vertebrae which can lead to osteoporosis, arthritis and various pain symptoms.
As a chiropractor, I observe disc-related low back pain on a regular occurrence with great results in improving their complaints. However, the greatest way to curb the symptoms degeneration is through lifestyle changes, that include chiropractic. Being mindful of your posture, office ergonomics, exercising regularly, decreasing stress levels all impacts how severe your degeneration manifest. Like the straw on the camels back, everyday you are collecting straws of degeneration, until you reach the final straw, and it’s breaks your back. Without doing those things that remove straws now, (the things listed two sentences ago), you setting yourself up for disability in the future.
Ways to “Remove the Straws” off your back
How to protect your spine from degeneration
Practice proper body mechanics
Every joint in your body has a proper biomechanical way that the bones should move throughout space and there are functional movement techniques you can practice to ensure you are getting the proper support from your muscles you need when to perform a physical task. Learning the proper techniques for lifting, reaching, and squatting can go a long way in protecting your spine and other joints from excessive wear and tear.
Exercise regularly
In today’s more sedentary lifestyle, routine exercise is more important that ever. If your routine is to go from the bed, to the couch, to the office, to the couch and to bed, you are creating a vicious cycle that leads to early degeneration of not only your spine, but the muscles that surround and stabilize the spine. If you don’t use it, you lose it, meaning muscles not in use atrophy and thus weakens your stability and creates pain. For example, strengthening your core through abdominal bracing, planks, or other modified core exercises decreasing the amount of work the muscles of the back have to do because the core can now aid in keeping you erect when sitting.
Monitor your nutrition
I know, I know, who wants to do that when there is so much good, bad foods! But your spine needs certain nutrients in maintain it’s equilibruim. A 2016 study revealed that almost 50% of participants with degenerative disc disease were also deficient in vitamin D, a vitamin that is notoriously deficient amongst black Americans. It is almost important to reduce the amount of inflammatory foods you intake. Inflammation is the common culprit behind many body ailments and disease, though scientist are still researching the exact reason.
Medical Approach
The medical approach to curtailing the symptoms of spinal degeneration conservatively mentions many of the things above. From my experience, however, the use of pain relievers, steroids and surgery seems to dominate the treatment plans for patients with degeneration. According to Hopskinsmedicine.org:
If the pain is severe and not controlled by the anti-inflammatory medicine, pain pills may be prescribed. In some instances where the neck pain is severe and not helped by the other medicine, cortisone pills for one week may be helpful. The dose of cortisone used is small and typically has none of the side effects of taking prednisone for months (small doses will not thin your bones or make you swell up). If those measures do not work or if there are signs of nerve damage, then more tests may be needed.
Chiropractic Approach
Routine chiropractic care has been shown to improve the quality of life for older patients with degeneration. One case study showed positive results with spinal adjustments using chiropractic adjusting tool in a geriatric veteran patient with degeneration who had severe low back pain and trouble walking. After a 7 weeks of treatment, the patient reported a decrease in back pain from 10/10 to 0/10. Spinal Adjustments reduce inflammation in the area, increase relative range of motion, thereby improving joint mechanics.
If you are considering chiropractic for your spine care, visit our Black Chiropractor Near Me Page to find a quality chiropractor near you!