Vancouver Cervical Spine Motion, Osteophytes, and Agings Effect
Aging gets blamed for a lot of ills…including neck motion changes. You are not alone if you find that you do not rotate your head quite as easily 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 companion osteophytes play a role in limiting movement. Vancouver Disc Centers is ready to help your neck movements with gentle chiropractic treatment!
CERVICAL SPINE MOTION
Physiological motion of the spine sounds like something good, does it not? It does! In the cervical spine, researchers have described how a consistent sequence of cervical segmental contributions function 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 movement has been connected to aging. A newer study by some curious researchers designed a study to determine 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 linked to a 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 Vancouver chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in feeling motion changes. Vancouver Disc Centers delivers gentle Cox® Technic treatment in order to allow as much movement to spinal segments as possible. If you see limitations in your neck motions, let us know! We can examine you to find the usual sources that may be the cause.
WHAT COMES WITH AGING THAT LIMITS NECK MOTION: Osteophytes
Osteophytes are frequently seen in vertebral bones of the cervical and lumbar spines of elderly folks. Anterior osteophytes keep developing and eventually produce neck pain or back pain. Since osteophytes are so common and result in such pain, researchers determined a way to predict the mean time to onset of pain and the course of degeneration that happens in these vertebrae based on data from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Vancouver 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’s an interesting case involving osteophytes and relieving chiropractic care: Osteophytes may contribute to patients’ developing dysphagia (aka difficulty with swallowing). A case report detailed the presentation of 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 relieved her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Shay Corbin on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effectiveness and gentleness of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his musician patient dealing with neck and back pain.
Make your next Vancouver chiropractic appointment with Vancouver Disc Centers. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-flexible cervical spine, your immobile neck to our clinic. We can work toward better mobility!
