Easley Cervical Spine Motion, Osteophytes, and Agings Effect
Aging gets blamed for a lot of ills…including limited neck movements. You are not alone if you realize that you do not turn your head quite as effortlessly or as far as you used to or that you don’t flex or extend it in the same way as you once did. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and associated osteophytes contribute to limiting movement. Young Chiropractic is ready to help your neck motions with gentle chiropractic treatment!
CERVICAL SPINE MOTION
Physiological motion of the spine has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? It does! In the cervical spine, researchers have noted how a consistent sequence of cervical segmental contributions function when the neck moves. This sequence is common in 80-90% of young healthy persons. But what about the motions in older persons with aging spines? Decreased movement has been connected to aging. A newer study by some curious researchers designed a study to see if such consistent neck motions in asymptomatic young people were the same in elderly asymptomatic persons. They didn’t. They found that aging - as demonstrated by the motion patterns seen in elderly asymptomatic persons - was associated with loss of consistent motion patterns as seen in young asymptomatic persons. For example, the consistent pattern in young asymptomatic persons was found in only 10% of the older persons at T1 and 0% at T2. (1) As our Easley chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in noting motion changes. Young Chiropractic offers gentle Cox® Technic treatment in order to allow as much movement to spinal segments as they’ll allow. If you see limitations in your neck motions, let us know! We can examine you to find the usual culprits that may be the cause.
WHAT COMES WITH AGING THAT LIMITS NECK MOTION: Osteophytes
Osteophytes are commonly seen in elderly folks’ vertebrae of the lumbar and cervical spines. Anterior osteophytes continue growing and eventually provoke neck pain or back pain. Since osteophytes are so usual and result in such pain, researchers found a way to predict the mean time to onset of pain and the course of degeneration that happens in these vertebrae based on data from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Easley chiropractic patients with osteophytes are not as curious as to how long ago their osteophytes started, but rather how our chiropractic care can help! Here is an interesting case involving osteophytes and relieving chiropractic care: Osteophytes may contribute to patients’ developing dysphagia (aka difficulty with swallowing). A case report presented a 53-year-old woman with a sore throat, difficulty swallowing solid foods, and acid reflux. Her imaging showed anterior osteophytes as well as kyphosis (abnormal curvature) of her cervical spine and thoracolumbar scoliosis, any of which could contribute to her dysphagia. Six months of chiropractic care relieved her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!
CONTACT Young Chiropractic
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Shay Corbin on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he explains the effective, gentle treatment with the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his musician patient dealing with neck and back pain.
Make your next Easley chiropractic appointment with Young Chiropractic. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-mobile cervical spine, your immobile neck to our clinic. We can work toward improved motion!
