Williamson 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 discover that you don’t turn your head quite as easily or as far as you once did or that you don’t flex or extend it like you once could. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and companion osteophytes contribute to limiting movement. Apple Country Chiropractic 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 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? Decreased motion has been linked to aging. A newer study by some inquisitive researchers designed a study 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 linked to a 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 Williamson chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in feeling motion changes. Apple Country Chiropractic offers gentle Cox® Technic treatment in order to allow as much movement to spinal segments as possible. If you notice 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 elderly folks’ vertebrae of the lumbar and cervical spines. Anterior osteophytes continue developing and eventually bring about 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 happens in these vertebrae based on data from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Williamson 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 concerning 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 Apple Country Chiropractic
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Shay Corbin on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes 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 Williamson chiropractic appointment with Apple Country Chiropractic. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-flexible cervical spine, your immobile neck to our clinic. We can work toward improved mobility!
