Chiropractic and Arthritis

Many times I have had patients come into the office and say that their medical doctor has informed them that they have arthritis and that it is just a normal part of the aging process. My comment is usually something like, "if that were true why is it that when we look an x-ray of your spine, most of the joints look young and healthy, but only one or two show the arthritic changes?" If arthritis were a normal aging process, wouldn't we see the same changes throughout the spine? I believe the answer is yes. There is something different going on at certain levels that contributes to arthritic change and pre-mature breakdown. Wolfe's law of bone sheds some light on this process:

Wolfe'sLaw
"Any bone under stress, given time, will
attract calcium salts to innately fuse it to the
surrounding bones as a protective measure
to resolve the weakness or stress."

What is being described here is the osteoarthritic process. Joints accumulate stress, most often as a result of repetitive activities. All of us, whether we are ditch diggers, executives, knitters, or chiropractors accumulate stress in muscles and joints. Joints lock up in response to such stress, and over time, develop arthritis in the way described above. Further, at these levels of spinal fixation, nervous system communication is sub-optimal. Because the spinal column houses the spinal chord, dysfunction of joints causes dysfunction of brain-body communication. This is the premise of chiropractic; if we can restore proper movement and position of vertebrae, we can not only increase the likelihood of the spine aging better, but improve that system that controls and coordinates every organ, tissue and cell in the body- the nervous system. My goal is to help people make it into their '80s and still have the ability to do the things they want to do. Chiropractic is a part of achieving this goal.
 
To Your Good Health
 
Dr. Morson
 
Shelton Chiropractic Center

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