Health & Wellness
2007-04-01 09:49:00
How to keep your back healthy
George Burns said it best when he stated "If Id known I was gonna live this long, I would have taken better care of myself".Previous generations of Americans used to plan to live to the age of about 60. That was the supposed life expectancy of those times and that is what people planned for. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for most of those retirees. As a result, we now have millions of retired seniors who are filling up retirement homes at an enormous rate, spending their last 15, 20 and even 30 years of life being taken care of 24 hours a day because they are not healthy, or strong enough to care for themselves.
Ask most people what age they will make it too, and most will tell you they are not planning on making it past 70 or so. Don’t count on that though! The fact is that the fastest growing population in the world are the centenarians, those who are100 years old or more. If you are a baby boomer, you can plan on joining the 400 million centenarians that are estimated to be present world wide by the year 2050. What will your quality of life be at that age? If you are 40 now, what will your back be like after another 60 years?
For those parents and grandparents who were considered the "Greatest Generation" they are now considered the “nursing home generation”. They are living longer but their spines and muscles that are needed to support them have degenerated to the point that a lot of those people in that age group are so limited in their physical abilities that they cannot take care of themselves. It didn't have to be that way! Those who remain active and take of their bodies can continue to be physically active much longer into those retirement years. Look at Jack LaLanne. He is 93 and still very physically active. Most people don’t know it but Jack LaLanne is a chiropractor. Throughout his life his health was a priority and is able to reap the rewards of those decisions now that he is in his 90’s.
When you consider the importance of our spine and nervous system regarding our health, it makes you wonder why more people don’t care for it better. Every day gravity will exert stress on our spines. The better our joints are aligned and working properly the better they will deal with stress. The end result of a poorly working spine, is degeneration of the spinal joints. When we consider how important it is for our frame to support us for around a hundred years, it makes sense to care for it properly.
In addition to supporting our body, our spine is also designed to protect our spinal cord and nervous system. It is our nervous system that controls and regulates every function of our body. When was the last time you had to ask if your heart was pumping fast enough, or if your stomach was digesting your lunch? You don’t have to ask, your nervous system controls all of our vital organ functions for us, as long as it is not blocked or inhibited. Our breathing, circulation, hormone production, even our immune systems, are all affected by our nervous system. Spinal problems have been proven to cause changes in our nervous system that can affect our bodies ability to function normally. When our nervous system is inhibited, our body is prone to sickness and disease.
We are fortunate to be getting the advance warning that our predecessors didn’t have regarding the likelihood of living a lot longer than those before us. What will you do with this knowledge? Invest in the health of your spine before it begins to deteriorate, and you will feel better now, but you will also be more active later in life.
