What chiropractic care can do for the elderly

OlderandactiveAs people get older, there are some that defy the odds, continuing to windsurf, climb, run and swim through a lengthy retirement, while others slow down, stay inside, hunch over and, dare I say it, become less and less visible to society.

What is it that the former, active and lively group are doing that the elderly infirm could learn from? Or is it, in fact, too late and we must simply look accept the fact of declining energy and mobility in our later years.

Having a healthy, active lifestyle as a younger person, certainly helps to maintain our mobility in later years. There’s a complex combination of reasons for this, including the benefits of a good diet, the strengthening effects of regular exercise on our bodies and the mental expectation that an active life is desirable and sustainable.

But what about seniors whose mobility has declined – are they truly past the time of recovery and rehabilitation? For many elderly people their health is monitored by medical and care professionals who provide the physical and lifestyle support as well as medication and monitoring to manage symptoms of ill health and old age. It would seem that improving the quality of life where it has already deteriorated is not a high priority.

I would suggest that older people take a look at chiropractic and wellness care as a potential route to improving their quality of life and this is why:

Focus on the cause of the pain, not just the symptoms

I’ve written in earlier blog posts about  what happens when individual vertebrae become misaligned (known as a subluxation) – say through habitual poor posture or injury:

“ the ‘abnormal’ position of the head, spine and individual vertebrae will begin to interfere with the central nervous system. Instead of housing and channelling our nerves, our spine starts to work against us, forming obstacles to the natural flow of our bodies’ vital communication system. We experience this abnormal position as being unhealthy as we begin to notice that one or more of our organs is not functioning or healing ‘normally’.”

This is as true for an older person as for a younger. It will be a common experience for older people to find that their GP might want to treat the symptoms of ill health with medication, injections or a consultation with a specialist. As a medical patient they may spend years bouncing around between all these options – while their mobility and health continues to decline.

The chiropractic approach would mean diagnosing where the spine is obstructing the central nervous system and using gentle spinal adjustments to restore misaligned vertabrae to a ‘normal’ position. The goal is for a chiropractor to remove any interference with a patient’s central nervous system and allow their body to heal itself back to optimum health.

Increase spinal mobility

Corrective chiropractic care for older people can increase motion in the spine and also in the extremities. While restoring mobility doesn’t have to mean running a marathon at the age of 80 (although for some it might!), it can mean the difference between reaching to a high cupboard or walking to the end of the garden and back. This increase in mobility can occur after the first treatment. The effects on an individual’s sense of well-being and independence can be striking.

Preventing joint deterioration

If we aren’t using our bodies properly, our joints will begin to show signs of damage. By correcting misalignments in your spine, chiropractic care decreases spinal degeneration and other arthritic changes by normalizing the spinal alignment and reducing spinal stress.

Better balance and coordination – reducing the risk of falling

As we age, we can suffer injury or deterioration around our spine and neck. Without chiropractic care, it is really easy to slip into bad postural habits to ‘protect’ ourselves from pain. Over time, we might start to experience problems with our balance and coordination as the efficiency of our nervous system becomes impaired. Our central nervous system serves many functions – including communicating to our brain where the rest of our body is. If these vital nerves aren’t working effectively, it will become harder to coordinate our movements.

As a response to our reduced ability to balance, for example, we would begin to stand with our feet further apart and we would shorten our steps and possible develop an irregular stride.  If our sense of balance and coordination worsened still further, we might find that we couldn’t get up from a chair or a fall without assistance.

Thanks for Dr. Vic Naumov, DC, CCSMS I’ve learned there’s a study that shows that chiropractic care can help restore balance and coordination by stimulating the joint receptors (mechanoreceptors) in the cervical spine. This stimulation is thought to restore or normalize joint receptor functioning which leads to improvements in balance and coordination. (Caranasos, MD, Isreal, MD. Gait Disorders in the Elderly. Hospital Practice. 1991; June 15:67-94.Guyton, MD. Textbook of Medical Physiology. 9th edition. WB Saunders, Philadelphia 1996; 714.)

Would it work for you?

Speak to your friends, look for recommendations and testamonials. Find a chiropractor or spinal specialist that listens to you and answers your questions. You don’t need a GP referral to see a chiropractor and a chiropractor won’t ask you to ignore your doctor’s medical advice or to stop taking medication.

A good chiropractor – like Dr Christian Farthing – will look at your overall lifestyle and support you in addressing the things that make us happy and healthy. So you may well find yourself working on a gentle exercise plan and reviewing your nutritional needs.

After all, taking an active approach to your health is important and worthwhile, no matter how old we are.