Minster Cervical Spine Motion, Osteophytes, and Agings Effect
Aging gets blamed for a lot of ills…including limited neck movements. You are not alone if you realize that you do not turn 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 could. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and companion osteophytes contribute to limiting movement. Minster Chiropractic Center is here to help your neck movements 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 typical in 80-90% of young healthy persons. But what about the motions in older persons with aging spines? Decreased movement has been linked to aging. A newer study by some inquisitive researchers designed a study to see 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 Minster chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in feeling motion changes. Minster Chiropractic Center delivers gentle Cox® Technic treatment in order to bring 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 elderly folks’ vertebrae of the lumbar and cervical spines. Anterior osteophytes keep growing 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 happens in these vertebrae based on data from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Minster 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 is an interesting case involving osteophytes and relieving chiropractic care: Osteophytes may cause the development of 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 impact her dysphagia. Six months of chiropractic care resolved her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!
CONTACT Minster Chiropractic Center
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 dealing with neck and back pain.
Make your next Minster chiropractic appointment with Minster Chiropractic Center. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-mobile cervical spine, your stiff neck to our clinic. We can work toward improved motion!
