Ashburn and Herndon 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 realize 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 in the same way as you once did. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and associated osteophytes contribute to limiting movement. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn is here to help your neck motions with gentle chiropractic treatment!
CERVICAL SPINE MOTION
Physiological motion of the spine sounds like something good, 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 common in 80-90% of young healthy persons. But what about the motions in aging spines of older folks? Reduced motion has been linked to aging. A recent study by some curious researchers set out to determine if such consistent neck motions in elderly asymptomatic persons resembled the motions in asymptomatic young 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 as 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 Ashburn and Herndon chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in noting motion changes. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn 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 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 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 path of degeneration that occurs in these vertebrae based on information from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Ashburn and Herndon 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 is an interesting case involving osteophytes and relieving chiropractic care: Osteophytes may cause the development of 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 impact her dysphagia. Six months of chiropractic care resolved her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!
CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Shay Corbin on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares the effective, gentle treatment with the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his musician patient experiencing neck and back pain.
Make your next Ashburn and Herndon chiropractic appointment with Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-mobile cervical spine, your immobile neck to our clinic. We can work toward improved mobility!
