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Your vertebrae deform; your intervertebral discs begin to degenerate; you shrink; your ligaments, tendons and muscles become hard and weaken; your spine becomes unbalanced and loses its flexibility, stability and strength. What is going on? Your spine is degenerating.
Medically this is called osteoarthritis, popularly we say wear and tear.
With osteoarthritis or degeneration in a joint, you may experience stiffness, pain, a feeling of ‘sand’ between the joints or a nagging feeling. The complaints are usually most severe in the morning or after sitting for a long time, for example. You may also feel radiating pain or headaches. Sometimes the pain or stiffness is accompanied by tingling.
Degeneration of the spine is often caused by prolonged stress. Your bones, tendons, ligaments, muscles, nerves, body chemistry and organs can be affected. Degeneration of the spine leads to a reduction in the general ability to adapt
to the stress of everyday life. You lose the resilience in your step, the youthful in your being, and you become smaller.
The loss’I of length
Many people believe that they shrink as they get older. Does this mean that you will suddenly be smaller when you wake up at the age of sixty-five? No of course not. The loss of height is silent, slow and gradual, starting between the ages of 20 and 30 and is one of the symptoms of spinal degeneration.
What actually causes spinal degeneration?
Spinal degeneration is usually caused by a long-term blockage in your spine. But what is a block?
Blocking the spinal cord
Everyday overload and stress deteriorate the complex parts (intervertebral discs, ligaments, tendons and bones) of the spine.
Overload and stress often cause vertebrae to become blocked. In this way, the vertebra irritates surrounding nerves, bones, discs, ligaments and other soft tissues. We call this serious condition of the spine a blockage.
Blockages, often painless, are common. You could call them a hidden epidemic.
The Jase of Spine I Degeneration
Your spine degenerates in stages:
Phase 1:
vertebra
At this stage, your vertebral column becomes unbalanced. The normal spine curve can be lost
to go. Your nerves can be affected and the vital nerve supply that flows through the central nervous system is hindered. Your joints, discs, nerves and posture come under pressure, with the result that they age faster. Surprisingly, you don’t have to feel any pain or other discomfort. You may have a little less energy and you may shrink a little. The response to chiropractic care is generally good at this stage.
Phase 2:
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At this stage, the decay, disc narrowing and bone formation are much more severe and the changes in posture are greater. Intervertebral disc degeneration occurs by the age of 40 in eighty percent of all men and seventy-six percent of women. Narrowing of the spinal canal or stenosis may occur. Characteristic of this phase is that the pain and fatigue are more frequent, the capacity to cope with the stress decreases and you also become smaller and smaller. Significant improvement is possible with chiropractic care.
Phase 3:
In this phase, the posture becomes increasingly unbalanced, permanent scar tissue develops and the bones become further deformed.
Physical and mental weakness occur. In this phase there is permanent loss of height and energy. With chiropractic care, some reversal is still possible.
Phase 4:
This is the most advanced stage. The imbalance of the posture is very serious and movement is only possible to a limited extent. There is severe damage to the nerves, scar tissue is formed and bones grow together.
People suffer a lot of pain and to varying degrees of physical limitations. The loss of length and energy continues. This phase is considered irreversible. Although chiropractic care may provide some symptomatic relief.
Decay of the spine
Spinal degeneration is like tooth decay (an often painless process), which lies dormant for years before anyone feels or notices the pain!
The chiropractic approach
You don’t have to sit passively and watch your spine degenerate. Chiropractic can reduce, stop and perhaps even reverse degeneration by improving spinal balance and posture and keeping your joints, nerves and discs healthy and strong for a lifetime. Improving movement between the joints or vertebrae with chiropractic manipulation increases mobility and takes pressure off the nerves, reducing pain, tingling, numbness, stiffness and muscle spasms.
Blockages, often painless, are common. We could call them hidden epidemics.
Furthermore, there is mounting evidence that some spinal degenerations are reversible.
You no longer have to believe the often heard “you have osteoarthritis/wear and tear, there is nothing you can do about it” or “you have to learn to live with it”. Chiropractic proves otherwise.
The sooner you start chiropractic care, the better.
According to one of the scientists, “The earlier the degeneration process is discovered…the better the patient’s chances of stopping and reversing the degeneration.”
The best approach is of course to prevent degeneration!
This means that you will be better off having your spinal column examined regularly from childhood, so that you can be sure that your spinal column is free of blockage. Even after a fall, accident or other trauma it is wise to keep your back through the Have a chiropractor examined to be able to eliminate blockages.
