Health Information Blog

The average human, both men and women shrink up to three inches over the course of their entire life. These facts are being revealed by chiropractors in San Diego. You can begin losing height slowly some time in your late twenties. This process then accelerates as you age. So, if you are in your thirties you are shrinking right at this moment! And the worst part is that some people shrink more quickly than others. The results can be a devastating “hunchback” appearance over time. It can also lead to limited mobility and constant pain. The good news is that there are simple and easy things you can do right now at this moment to minimize the aging and shrinking process. You can do things to make sure you stay strong and tall and don’t end up looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame! It’s not an appealing look.

First let’s talk about why you shrink. Although there are several factors that lead to shrinking, the one that has by far the biggest impact is your spine. How? The disc has several important functions: 1. It helps to “glue” the vertebrae together…keeping them in place. 2. It acts like a shock absorber, allowing the spine to compress and rebound when stress is applied. Sort of like a spring. 3. It maintains proper spacing between the bones. Proper spacing is needed so each bone can move completely. This space allows nerves to pass through their opening without getting pinched. What does all this have to do with you shrinking? Simple. The disc is like a week old jelly donut. It has a tough outer layer and a soft, gel-like center. That center is normally 88% water. So guess what? Your disc makes up 33% of the height of your spine. So, if your disc somehow loses water, dries out so-to-speak, you lose height!

Your discs only have one way to keep their water content. This is through a process known as imbibitions. It is also through proper motion. Proper motion serves as a natural pump that brings water and other nutrition in and out of the disc through imbibition. As soon as that motion is stopped or altered, the disc begins to shrink and die in the process. If your spinal bones misalign or malfunction, the discs cannot move through their normal range of motion causing its water content to be lost and the disc height to decrease. This misalignment is referred to by chiropractors as a subluxation.

And here’s an amazing fact: An estimated two inches of vertical height of the spine may be lost if the water content of the discs are lowered by only sixteen percent! What’s worse: This sets off a vicious cycle of spinal and body degeneration. As your disc shrinks, it compresses joints and causes inflammation (swelling) due to friction. Swelling and more friction reduce mobility even more. As more motion is lost, the disc loses more water, shrinking even more, causing compression and the cycle keeps going until your spinal discs look like a slice of pepperoni! What’s more, your spine can become deformed, making it difficult to maintain balance and upright posture. That’s one reason you see people with “hunchbacks” or using a walker. During this process, nerves can get pinched that can cause severe pain and other chronic health problems.

That was a lot of dreadful news. But there is good quality news: Chiropractic adjustments combined with rehabilitation procedures and proper nutritional can restore proper motion to malfunctioning spinal segments. This will decrease friction and swelling, and allow fluid back into the disc. This in turn will stop the vicious cycle of pain, degeneration and reduce in height! Even though you can’t completely end the aging process in your spine, you can seriously slow it down. This reduces the amount of height you lose and all the chronic pain and health problems that go along with the problem. How do you guard your spine? This can be done by simply going to your doctor of chiropractic and having your spine routinely checked for misalignments. Misalignments are known as subluxations. Through quick and easy chiropractic methods, it can determined if you have a problem that can cause spinal degeneration and all the problems that come along with it if a subluxation is found. Proper steps can be taken to correct it before serious and permanent damage is done.

Let me ask you a question: Does it make more sense to routinely see your dentist for check-ups even though your teeth don’t hurt or, should you wait until your teeth hurt? I don’t know how you answered that question, but I think it makes more sense to see my Dentist BEFORE I wake up in agonizing pain and need a root canal. Or…maybe have the tooth pulled. If you think like I do, it also makes sense to come see a chiropractor BEFORE you’re in agonizing pain. By that time, your spine needs a Chiropractic root canal. A lot of work must be done and money spent that could have been avoided. The worst thing is: waiting until you are in pain means damage has already been done. Some damage can be corrected…some cannot. Over time, this damage adds up… leading to problems and pain that may not be able to be corrected.

The real key to living a happy, healthy, pain-free life can be found in the wise old saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Seeing a properly trained chiropractor can mean the difference of suffering in agony or living a pain free life. The chiropractors in New Century Spine Centers in San Diego are at the top of their field. To visit the chiropractors in San Diego at New Century Spine Centers, call them at their San Diego office at 619-630-9153. You’ll be glad you did.

Looking to find the best information on spinal decompression therapy, then visit www.BackCareTreatment.com to find the best advice on chiropractic for you.