Carrolltown 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 find that you don’t 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 did. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and associated osteophytes play a role in limiting movement. Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation is here to help your neck motions 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 noted how a consistent sequence of cervical segmental contributions function 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 connected to aging. A recent study by some inquisitive researchers set out to see 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 associated with 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 Carrolltown chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in feeling motion changes. Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation 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 look for the usual sources that may be the cause.

WHAT COMES WITH AGING THAT LIMITS NECK MOTION: Osteophytes

Osteophytes are commonly seen in vertebral bones of the cervical and lumbar spines of elderly folks. Anterior osteophytes continue developing and eventually bring about neck pain or back pain. Since osteophytes are so common and lead to such pain, researchers found a way to predict the mean time to onset of pain and the course of degeneration that occurs in these vertebrae based on information from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Carrolltown 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 presented a 53-year-old woman with a sore throat, difficulty swallowing solid foods, and acid reflux. Her imaging revealed 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 calmed her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!

CONTACT Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation

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.       

Schedule your next Carrolltown chiropractic appointment with Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-mobile cervical spine, your immobile neck to our clinic. We can work toward improved mobility!