Osteoarthritis And The People Of Maine.

 

 

Degenerative Arthritis or Osteoarthritis (OA), is your body’s response to instability and is also associated with a transmission of forces through joints rather than successful absorption of forces through those joints. Ever wonder why we have curves in our spine or legs that are straight and not bent inward? Shock absorption.
When your body and brain sense instability in a joint or another it has an innate wisdom that says “these bones need to grow together to create stability”. Bone spurs form and connect to the neighboring joint to become stable. (See picture below).

 

When joints misalign and no longer absorb shock normally, they often end up transmitting shock through the paths of least resistance. Transmission of shock stimulates osteoblastic (bone cell growth) activity in bone cells. This is the same activity that increases bone density in osteoporotic people except that it’s creating new bone on the edges of the bone and they form bone spurs.

 

Arthritis is a result of instability and misalignment, wear and tear and your body’s response to it.

Many say there is no known cause for OA, but that there are many factors involved in it’s development.

 

Many say that it’s age related.

Question: are all the joints in your body the same age? If all your joints are the same age and you don’t have arthritis in all your joints, then how exactly does that explanation work? Joints that are older have seen more wear and tear and have often been exposed to greater injury or longterm misalignment. THIS is what predisposes them to damage and degeneration.

 

Some say genetics are a large causative factor. Gene’s have been shown to adapt and respond differently under different types of stress. The idea that your environment and your body’s response to it dictates, to a great degree, how your genes express themselves is called epigenetics. Yes if you are genetically predisposed to having scoliosis, that predisposes you to abnormal shock absorption, wear and tear and ultimately you are more likely to have OA.

 

Injuries. Research published in Current Opinion in Rheumatology” found that 41 to 51 percent of participants with previous knee injuries showed signs of OA in later years. Ask yourself how other weight bearing joints would progress if they are injured? Your ankles, hips, sacroiliac joints, spine? Injuries create instability, misalignment, damaged tissue and other factors predisposing you to abnormal wear, tear and breakdown.

 

How do you protect yourself against the effects of wear and tear that lead to osteoarthritis?

 

Stay strong.

 

Maintain Healthy Weight.

 

Avoid Injury.

 

See “alignment specialist” or chiropractor after an injury.

 

Understand that instability and misalignment of joints are not always painful. Get checked after minor to moderate injury even if you are not in pain. The reason we wake up one day in arthritic pain without seeing it coming is because the process doesn’t always hurt, but the end result does.

Osteoarthritis And The People Of Maine - Pain Relief In Portland - Call The Office Of Dr. Lou Jacobs at 774-6251. Jacobs Chiropractic Acupuncture

Osteoarthritis And The People Of Maine – Pain Relief In Portland – Call The Office Of Dr. Lou Jacobs at 774-6251. Jacobs Chiropractic Acupuncture