West Des Moines Cervical Spine Motion, Osteophytes, and Agings Effect
Aging gets blamed for a lot of ills…including limited neck movements. You’re not alone if you find that you do not rotate your head quite as easily or as far as you once did or that you don’t flex or extend it like you once did. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and companion osteophytes contribute to limiting movement. Executive Chiropractic of Iowa is here to help your neck movements 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 older persons with aging spines? Reduced motion has been linked to aging. A newer study by some inquisitive researchers set out to see if such consistent neck motions in asymptomatic young people were the same in elderly asymptomatic 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 that were 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 West Des Moines chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in feeling motion changes. Executive Chiropractic of Iowa delivers gentle Cox® Technic treatment in order to allow as much motion to spinal segments as possible. If you notice limitations in your neck motions, let us know! We can look for 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 bring about neck pain or back pain. Since osteophytes are so common and produce such pain, researchers determined a way to predict the mean time to onset of pain and the path of degeneration that happens in these vertebrae based on data from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our West Des Moines 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’s 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 resolved her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!
CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Shay Corbin on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares the effectiveness and gentleness of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his musician patient experiencing neck and back pain.
Schedule your next West Des Moines chiropractic appointment with Executive Chiropractic of Iowa. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-flexible cervical spine, your stiff neck to our clinic. We can work toward better motion!
