As people age, they should take care of their backs, Liz Terrence of Moore Chiropractic Clinic said in a presentation Thursday at the Senior Center of South Pearl River County.
The average life span in the U.S. was 49 in 1900, rising to almost 78 now, and that average continues to climb, Terrence said. By 2050 there will be more than 800,000 Americans older than 100, she said, citing studies. A girl born today has a 1-in-3 chance to live for a century, a boy 1-in-4, she said.
For all the medical breakthroughs that have lengthened the average American life, the health of their skeleton isn’t a priority for most people until something goes wrong, Terrence said.
“The one thing that hasn’t changed is how we take care of our spines and our joints,” she said. “The most prevalent cause of functional disability is spinal disorders.”
A longer life isn’t a better one if a person’s mobility is limited, Terrence said, and chiropractors can help by averting debilitating spinal and joint disorders.
“If our spine was on our face, we’d take better care of it,” she said, noting Americans spend on dental improvements and plastic surgery to maintain a youthful appearance. “We want to be able to live, work and play well into our senior years.”
A chiropractor’s help comes in three phases, she said. First, there’s alignment. Next comes stabilization, because “it takes time to train your body and muscles” to maintain correct alignment. Finally, the patient works on maintenance.
“This is where you actually address your mobility level,” she said.
Besides the relief of pain from maladjusted vertebrae, chiropractic therapy helps other organs of the body, since the spine is the nervous system’s superhighway connecting the brain to every organ and limb.
To critics who contend that chiropractic practices encourage regular therapy, Terrence laughed. “Well, we do! But what doctor doesn’t want you to come back,” she said.
Terrence described her personal experience as a chiropractic patient. She suffered three broken bones in her ankle and required surgery. Afterward, she had terrible pain in her feet. Finally, she began chiropractic therapy, and the pain went away.
Chiropractors can help alleviate many symptoms from headaches to the foot disorder plantar fasciitis, she said.
“It’s not just about your back,” Terrence said.
Moore Chiropractic Clinic is at 6682 Highway 11 North, Suite 103, just north of Picayune.