If you could only have one car for your entire life, would you take better care of it?
You only have one spine, one brain, one set of nerves. Make them last.
What Is Spinal Degeneration?
If you have arthritis in your spine, you have spinal degeneration. Spinal degeneration (osteoarthritis) of the discs, joints, and bones of the spine occurs in most people due to stress. Physical stress and chemical stress are most likely to lead to degeneration. Physical stress could be a fall, a sport, a desk job, or sleeping on your stomach. Chemical stress could be a calcium deficiency, drugs, medications, bad diet, or chemical changes brought on by mental stress.
Spinal Degeneration and arthritis of the spine are the same thing! Waiting to see what happens, makes it worse.
What are the stages of spinal degeneration? Degeneration of the spine occurs in stages. Stage 1-3, with 3 being the worst. The reason there is a grading system is that degeneration predictably gets worse with time and no intervention.
Should I fear spinal degeneration?
Even with intervention like chiropractic care, or more extreme measures like surgery, it may be that the best one gets, is a slowed process of degeneration. Slow is better than fast when it comes to degeneration of the spine. Once degeneration is severe, the pain, immobility, and destruction of quality of life are very likely. Love golf, running, cooking, walking, travel? Don’t lose it. Protect your spine and nerves with healthy activities
All of your nerves that control your body and send messages to and from your brain, pass through holes between joints, in the sides of your spine. An unhealthy spine leads to unhealthy nerves. The process of joint degeneration is similar to a car whose shocks are rusting. Once smooth moving and shock-absorbing, your spinal joints, like the suspension of a car, start rusting with stress and time. Until, of course, the system collapses.
What can I do to protect my future of doing the things I love?
Directly put, you can do those things that maintain and promote a healthy spine and nervous system. Like preventive dental care, spinal care helps maintain healthy, pain-free joints that don’t interfere with nerve communication.
See a chiropractor. Chiropractic mobilizes joints, corrects alignment, reduces stress on nerves and the brain, reduces inflammation, and reduces pain. It helps fight rusting joints by keeping them moving and under less stress.
Minimize compressive forces. Running, jumping, skydiving, motocross, long commutes, desk work, competitive mountain biking, skiing, and other activities that compress the spine, nerves, and spinal joints, lead do more damage.
Get rest. Lying down to sleep allows for a mildly relaxed decompression of the spine if you sleep in a neutral, non-twisted position.
Get “Flexion Distraction.” This specialized chiropractic technique decompresses, mobilizes, and promotes blood flow to the spine and discs of the low back, all while stretching their supporting muscles! This technique has been used for decades to help those with disc bulges and herniations.
Eat well. Proper nutrients make healthy bones and joints. Healthy bones and joints are more resistant to degeneration.
By the time you realize that you will have to sit out the golf or ski season because of pain, you are late to the healing game. The time to do preventive care is before the pain starts. Before degeneration starts. If it has already started, call a chiropractor who utilizes “flexion distraction” technique and get joints mobilized right away! Gentle spinal adjustments realign, decompress, and mobilize the spine to the advantage of nerves as well as joints and bones. Whether you feel fine or not, a mobile spine and healthy nerves require TLC before the rust starts.
Think RUST. Not good in your car, not good in your body. It never ends well.
The cars in Jay Leno’s garage have been impeccably maintained and are like new. The cars in the field up at Farmer John’s chicken farm have been neglected and are piles of rust. The cars are the same age. How can this be?
Answer: Preventive Maintenance.
If you could only have one car for your entire life, would you take better care of it?
You only have one spine, one brain, one set of nerves. Make them last.
Chiropractic is the answer.