San Diego Chiropractor: Chiropractic and Arthritis
Are you suffering from painful arthritis? Do you also have a challenge with your weight? If so, more than likely you’re having back pain not only due to arthritis, but also as a consequence of the burden your weight is putting on your spine. The body was not intended to carry around extra weight in the form of body fat. Your spine, which supports your body, is being put under a lot of strain even if you are merely carrying an extra 20 or 30 pounds on a regular basis. This type of stress can cause irregularities of the vertebral column. These misaligned vertebra can generate arthritic changes in the spine and continue to irritate the degenerative changes that are present already. Furthermore, your body may counteract in other ways, for instance your hips moving forward or tilting to support the additional weight. This can restrict the sciatic nerve, which is extraordinarily painful.
A recent survey by the NPD Group, a leading market research organization based in Rosemont, Ill., indicates that approximately 62% of adults and 34% of adolescents are overweight or obese. The prevalence of arthritis amplifies with growing weight. Research implies that maintaining a healthy weight decreases the risk of developing arthritis in the first place and may decelerate disease progression. A loss of just 11 pounds can reduce the occurrence (incidence) of new knee osteoarthritis and would be extraordinarily beneficial in reducing back pain as well.
In order for anyone to eliminate their back pain, knee pain, and joint pain in other areas of the body, a healthy diet and appropriate exercise is imperative. Even though you have likely been told this for the better part of your life, it really is the only way for you to stop suffering and regain your life.
First of all, we’ll talk about the dieting issue. There are a huge number of different ways to diet and many of them work only for a limited period. It may sound cynical, but let’s face it, if you were to lose weight for good, the diet industry would lose a good customer! If you’re interested in losing weight efficiently, you are simply going to need to eat a healthy diet as well as to cut your calories so that you use more calories than you take in. Losing a large amount of weight too quickly is not only temporary, but unsafe. A good goal is to lose about 2 pounds every week in order to have positive results.
On the subject of exercise, research has proved that physical activity decreases pain, augments function, and delays disability. It is important for you to get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a minimum of 3 days a week. Even at 10-minute intervals such movement is beneficial.
Chiropractic treatment is a highly beneficial way to get motion back in the joints of your spine and other places in, and can be a wise first step prior to starting an exercise program. A spine in alignment makes exercise and physical activity a good deal easier and actually slows down arthritic degenerative changes. The Annals of Internal Medicine published the findings of a survey of 232 people who were under a rheumatologist’s care for their arthritis. Of those people, 63% answered the survey by saying they were using some form of “complementary care” as named by the study. Of those responders, 31% were utilizing chiropractic. Likely the most notable statistic was that 73% of those trying chiropractic found it beneficial. Explaining why they’d tried the non-medical chiropractic care, people gave a number of reasons: 1) to control pain, 2) they’d heard that it helps, 3) they felt certain that it is safe, 4) it had assisted someone they knew, and 5) because their prescription medication wasn’t working.
Chiropractors, also called doctors of chiropractic, have been assisting individuals suffering from back pain due to arthritis and other arthritic afflictions for over a hundred years. Not only can arthritic pain and degenerative changes in the spine be created by the misaligned vertebra that your San Diego chiropractor will adjust, if left untreated misalignments can reduce resistance and immunity, which can cause new health problems.
It is always wise to see a health care professional to get information about diet and exercise. If you want to find expert advice on the sort of lifestyle changes that you will need to aid you in managing your arthritis, your chiropractor will be more than glad to talk with you. By the same token, besides correcting any misalignments in your spine, your chiropractor will diagnose any faulty gait patterns or posture irregularities that may be adding to your arthritic pain.
