August 22, 2018

Elderly Chiropractic: Is It Safe?

I take pride in the fact that my chiropractic practice is family-oriented. This means that I can help anybody in the family — from toddlers and kids to teenagers, adults and even senior citizens. Many older people have the mindset that it’s either too late in life for them to get help with their pain issues, or that chiropractic care is harmful to elderly, frail bodies. But this is at best a misconception. Chiropractic care is helpful for people of all ages, even if you think it’s “too late”.

Pain Relief
The vast majority of chiropractic patients make their appointments in the first place because of pain issues. The fact that 80% or more of Americans will experience back pain at some point in their lives says it all. Take into account that the elderly do, in fact, become more fragile as they age, and there’s no surprise that pain and chronic conditions such as arthritis become much more common. Daily tasks may become more difficult, pain becomes prevalent and in many cases, multiple medications are taken daily.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. I custom tailor each of my treatments according to the needs of each individual. This means that if I need to be gentle, I’ll be gentle. If you suffer from arthritis, I’ll forgo certain techniques and implement others. My job is to ensure treatment — even if it is supplementary working with other types of pain remedies. I will fix the subluxations that affect the spine, relieving pain and inflammation using drug-free and non-invasive methods.

Improve Range of Motion, Coordination and Balance
Because bones grow fragile and muscles become weaker as we age, it only comes naturally that range of motion decreases and balance becomes harder to maintain. An estimated 33% of seniors fall down each year; and when flexibility and fragility are increased, so too is the chance of serious injury.

Chiropractic care aims not only to relieve pain, but to strengthen the muscles around the spine by prescribing simple daily stretches and exercises. They don’t take long to do, but they go a very long way in improving balance to decrease the odds of falling down. And since the exercises strengthen the muscles, they also help to neutralize any severe injuries that come with falling down.

Stay Out of The Nursing Home
A study titled “Chiropractic for the Elderly” was done in the Journal called Topics of Clinical Chiropractic. In it, they found that senior citizens showed a decrease in the severity of arthritis in those that had received regular chiropractic care as they aged. Other findings included:

• Chiropractic patients were more likely to exercise than their non-chiro counterparts.
• After three years of periodic visits, they found that 5% of elderly chiro patients were in nursing homes vs. 48% of non-chiro patients
• The reasoning is that because of individualized treatment and strength training outside of the chiropractor’s office, patients were less likely to need assistance doing everyday tasks.

So it’s never too late to start improving your range of motion, relieving pain, or decreasing the severity of your chronic condition. Chiropractic aims to strengthen your spine and increase healthy activity in general, so if you’re ready to start on the path to a healthy you, give me a call today!