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Arthritis:

History:
Regardless of age, our lives are filled with stress, accidents and physical tasks, which can lead to spinal damage. Whether you fall, play sports, pick up the baby or take out the trash, there will be a strain on your spine and the supporting muscles. Areas that stop moving properly and feel tight will place increased pressure on the joints. Over time, this will lead to calcium deposits and degenerative changes. This is why it is very important to have your spine evaluated even if you have no symptoms.

Spinal care is as important as dental care. It can help prevent more serious problems. If your teeth wear out, you can get dentures, but if the spine degenerates there is no simple solution.

A subluxation is a misalignment in your body similar to when your car loses its alignment. Your car will give symptoms like pulling to one side when you hit the brakes and cause early and uneven wear on the rotors and tires. Replacing a tire won’t solve the problem. It is this subluxation that we correct when you are in the office, because left uncorrected it can lead to degeneration, excessive wear and tear on your body, which is called Arthritis.


Symptoms:
Arthritis pain can be like having stiff joints in the morning or hearing grinding noises when you move. Sometimes your joints will be swollen and red or the discs between your vertebrae may be thinner than normal. The problem with Arthritis is the calcium deposits can interfere with the nerves as well as the body’s movement. If this happens you may experience nerve pain radiating into an arm or leg.


Treatment:
Arthritis poses some problems when treating a patient. Many times areas won’t move as well as patients remember they did when they were younger. If the patient is older and has Osteoporosis, then various techniques have to be used to protect the patient’s bones and yet still be beneficial.

Heat and electric stim, along with exercises and adjusting is helpful to restore motion to its best we can achieve. Maintaining movement and flexibility is important to delaying any further progression or arthritic changes in the body.





Research:
  • Elderly chiropractic patients report better overall health, have fewer chronic conditions and spend fewer days in nursing homes and hospitals, are more mobile in their communities, and are more likely to report strenuous levels of exercise than non-chiropractic patients, according to a study published in Topics in Clinical Chiropractic, Volume 3, Number 2.

  • Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) found 87 percent of chiropractic patients described their health status as good to excellent, compared to 67.8 percent on non-chiropractic patients.