American Chiropractic

Chiropractic helps to prevent spinal degeneration. Altered spine alignment increases uneven wear and tear on the spine and compromises the strength, durability, and efficiency of the entire body. Joint hypomobility, or reduction in joint range of motion, can cause joints to prematurely degenerate.

Decreased spinal joint mobility accelerates the degenerative process and diminishes the joint’s strength and functional capability. The biggest challenge of spinal joint degeneration comes from the permanency attached to the process. Spinal joint degeneration cannot be reversed and continues to worsen if not addressed appropriately. Theoretically, Chiropractors can help to prevent and even stop the degenerative process by improving alignment and mobility in specific joints through Chiropractic adjustments. This is accomplished by gapping spinal joints and breaking up adhesions.

A 2010 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics connects the damaging effects of hypomobility (reduced mobility) to spinal degeneration. The result of 4 weeks of hypomobility of spinal joints was articular surface degeneration and the result of 8 weeks of hypomobility of spinal joints was osteophyte formation. Joint adhesions make up the early stage of degeneration. Chiropractic adjustments likely reduce adhesion formation in a damaged joint by inducing motion into the spinal segment. An absence of joint movement produces long-lasting adhesion formation which eventually turns into one of the most prevalent and degenerative conditions known as osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis of the spine torments large numbers of people and is one of the most significant causes of persistent pain and disability in the world today. Osteoarthritis has become so common that many assume degeneration simply exists as part of the normal aging process. The plague of osteoarthritis advances quickly and often deforms and disables spinal function. Up to fifty percent of individuals experience arthritic back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain represents a common plague on health, yet limited information and solutions await people suffering from the development of spinal degeneration; which would be frequently referred to as low back pain and neck pain.

Chiropractic represents one of the only true solutions which address the cause of the problem. Focusing on the maintenance of the mechanical workings of the spine serves as the most effective approach to preventing degenerative wear and tear of the human spine.