Wellness Chiropractic Care Includes Exercise

It was my intention when I started this blog to quickly get the Basic Spine Exercises as well as others posted. That hasn’t happened but here I will input the text from some great materials put together by Malik Slosberg, D.C. who is a spectacular lecturer and faculty member of Life Chiropractic College in California. Every statement he makes is backed up by the literature and he says it better than I would so here you go. (His is a chart with arrows so there are a couple of places I have had to improvise.)

Chiropractic and Exercise

Back and neck problems usually begin with an acute episode which heals quickly. However, much recent evidence indicates that therse problems tend to reoccur, with greadually increasing pain and disability. Many studies have found that the best predictor of a new episode of back pain is a previous one. It is now understood that back and neck pain are similar to asthma. They are both chronic, intermittent problems that occur periodically over the course of a lifetime, rather than an acute disease that can be cured. Like asthma back and neck problems must be managed and kept under control. Two-thirds of people who have had back pain in the past are likely to have symptoms every year. There are more that 100 million back pain sufferers a year in the United States.

Here is an excellent model to understand how back and neck problems become chronic:

1. Excess or repetitive mechanical force causes tissue damage, leading to Pain, Discomfort, and Swelling.

2. The Pain leads to Activity Avoidance out of fear, the Swelling leads to Loss of motion, and muscle changes (including spasm, inhibition & weakness) all of which results in…

3. Decreased activity, Immobility & Disuse, which leads to…

4. Muscle Weakness (Loss of coordination, Disturbed motor programs and Muscle Atrophy), Joint Stiffness (Decreased range of motion, Fibrosis (scarring), Decreased heart and lung function.

5. The result is Chronic, painful musculoskeletal dysfunction, Increased risk of reinjury & chronic problems.

Important Points to Ponder

- If tissues heal with poor function, symptoms can persist long after they heal. Such area may become chronic and at risk of re-injury.

- A good long term recovery is best achieved by restoring function. The back and neck are used every day. If they are injured and function is not restored they will get hurt again due to the repetitive stress they are exposed to in the course of everyday life.

- Exercise training is effective in preventing back and neck pain.

- Proper exercise improves muscle strength, endurance, and motor control, enhancing the way muscles work together to stabilize the spine, protect it from injury, and decrease pressure on discs, joints, and ligaments.

- Chiropractic care increases the benefits of exercise by restoring and maintaining movement and function as well as reducing pain and relaxing muscle spasms.

- Chiropractic and exercise help restore and maintain health, function, activity levels and quality of life.

And, this just in from the guy on Channel 12 pushing the book on brain health….”There is a fountain of youth… it’s called exercise.”

DrD