Fernandina Beach 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 in the same way as you once could. Degenerative discs and vertebrae and associated osteophytes contribute to limiting movement. Amelia Chiropractic Clinic is ready to help your neck motions with gentle chiropractic treatment!

CERVICAL SPINE MOTION

Physiological motion of the spine has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? 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 common in 80-90% of young healthy persons. But what about the motions in aging spines of older folks? Reduced movement has been related to aging. A newer study by some curious 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 found 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 Fernandina Beach chiropractic friends and family age along with us, we’re not alone in seeing motion changes. Amelia Chiropractic Clinic offers 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 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 produce neck pain or back pain. Since osteophytes are so common and result in such pain, researchers found a way to predict the mean time to onset of pain and the path of degeneration that occurs in these vertebrae based on data from following patients’ osteophytes for 9 years. (2) We know our Fernandina Beach chiropractic patients with osteophytes are not 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 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 contribute to her dysphagia. Six months of chiropractic care resolved her issues. (3) Chiropractic care works!

CONTACT Amelia Chiropractic Clinic

Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Shay Corbin on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effectiveness and gentleness of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his musician patient experiencing neck and back pain.       

Schedule your next Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment with Amelia Chiropractic Clinic. Bring your aging spine, your less-than-mobile cervical spine, your stiff neck to our clinic. We can work toward improved motion!