Fort Wayne Cervical Spine Motion, Osteophytes, and Agings Effect
Aging gets blamed for a lot of ills…including neck motion changes. You’re not alone if you find that you don’t rotate your head quite as effortlessly or as far as you used to or that you don’t flex or extend it like you once could. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and associated osteophytes play a role in limiting movement. Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc 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 work when the neck moves. This sequence is typical in 80-90% of young healthy persons. But what about the motions in aging spines of older folks? Decreased motion has been related to aging. A recent study by some inquisitive researchers set out to see if such consistent neck motions in elderly asymptomatic persons resembled the motions in asymptomatic young persons. They didn’t. They concluded 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 Fort Wayne chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in feeling motion changes. Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc delivers gentle Cox® Technic treatment in order to bring as much motion 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 frequently seen in elderly folks’ vertebrae of the lumbar and cervical spines. Anterior osteophytes keep growing and eventually produce neck pain or back pain. Since osteophytes are so common and produce such pain, researchers found a way to predict the mean time to onset of pain and the course of degeneration that occurs in these vertebrae based on information from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Fort Wayne chiropractic patients with osteophytes aren’t 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 cause the development of 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 impact her dysphagia. Six months of chiropractic care relieved her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!
CONTACT Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Shay Corbin on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effective, gentle treatment with the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his musician patient experiencing neck and back pain.
Schedule your next Fort Wayne chiropractic appointment with Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-flexible cervical spine, your stiff neck to our clinic. We can work toward improved motion!
