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Spine & Disc Degeneration
Your spinal bones begin to deform; your discs swell, then shrink; your ligaments, tendons and muscles begin to harden and weaken; and your entire spinal column loses its balance, flexibility, stability and strength. What is happening? your spine is degenerating.
Spinal degeneration is often caused by long standing stress. Along with the bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles, your nerves, body chemistry and internal organs can also be affected. Spinal degeneration leads to less overall ability to adapt to the pressures of life, you lose the spring in your step, and the youth in your being. You also lose your height.
Loss of height
Most people believe they lose height when they get "old." Does that mean at age 65 you wake up and find yourself shorter? Of course not. The loss of height is silent, slow and gradual, and may begin in your 20s and 30s as one of the symptoms of spinal degeneration.
What causes Spinal Degeneration?
Spinal degeneration is caused by years of long-standing vertebral subluxations in your spine. what are vertebral subluxations? Vertebral Subluxations
Day to day stress can cause your spine's many complex parts (invertebral discs, ligaments, tendons and the very bone itself) to deteriorate. Stress often causes the spinal vertebrae to shift from their proper places, or become misaligned and irritate the surrounding nerves, bones, discs, ligaments and other soft tissues. This serious spinal condition is often called a vertebral subluxation complex. Subluxations, often painless, are common; they are a "hidden epedimic." Spinal Decay
Spinal degeneration is like tooth decay (often a painless process) that by the time a person notices its affects or feels any pain has been going on for many years! The Phases of Degeneration
Your spine degenerates in stages or phases
- Degeneration Phase 1
First your spine loses its normal balance. There may be a loss of normal spinal curves. Your berves may be affected and the vital life energy that flows over them is interfered with. Also your joinys, discs, nerves and posture are stressed and age more quickly. Surprisingly, there may be no pain other than occasional discomfort. Also present may be a slight lessening of energy and slight height loss. Response to spinal care is generally good. - Degeneration Phase 2
Here there is a much greater degree of decay, disc narrowing and bone spurs (deformations); postural changes are much worse. This condition is very common (by age 40, 80% of males and 76% of females exhibit moderate disc degeneration). Spinal canal narrowing or stenosis may occur. This phase is characterized by more common aches and pains, fatigue and a diminished ability to cope with stress. Height continues to decrease. With chiropractic care significant improvement is possible. - Degeneration Phase 3
Here are more postural imbalances, increased nerve damage, permanent scar tissue and advanced bone deformation. Physical and/or mental weakness or disability begin. Also found in this phase are permanent loss of height and loss of energy. With care some reversal is possible. - Degeneration Phase 4
This is the most advanced stage of subluxation degeneration. The postural imbalance us severe and motion is limited. There is severe nerve damage, permanent scar tissue is formed and the bones may begin to fuse. In this phase we find pain, various degrees of physical or mental disability, and continued loss of energy and height. By now the condition is considered irreversible, although chiropractic care may give some symptomatic relief.
The Chiropractic Approach
You need not sit and passively watch your spine degenerate. Chiropractic care can reduce, halt and may even reversespinal degeneration by improving spinal balance and posture and keeping your joints, nerves, and discs healthy and strong throughout your lifetime. As one researcher writes: The restoration of motion to a previously [fixated joint] leads to restoration of normal function and physiology. Further, there is increasing evidence that some spinal degeneration may be reversible. As one researcher noted: Correction of a vertebral subluxation can not only attenuate and arrest this degenerative process, but can actually allow the condition to reverse itself.
Prevention
The sooner chiropractic care is begun, the better. According to one researcher: The earlier the degeneration process is identified...the better chance the patient has for its arrest and reversal. Of course, the best appropach to spinal degeneration is to prevent it from occurring in the first place! This means bringing your children for periodic spinal checkups to make sure their spines are free of the vertebral subluxation complex. Of course, and time someone experiences a fall, accident or other trauma, they should have their spine checked by a doctor of chiropractic to make sure they are subluxation-free. Periodic spinal checkups to detect the "silent" vertebral subluxation complex are of vital importance for everyone. That's because stress, including emotional stress, job stress, school stress, family stress and environmental, takes its toll on us. For that reason you should have your spine checked periodically for vertebral subluxations, the hidden epidemic that slowly and steadily drains your life of energy, strength and wholeness. See your chiropractor regularly to keep your spine free from subluxations and free from spinal degeneration.