Why You Need To Take Your Spine Health Seriously
Category: Spine | Author: Stefano Sinicropi
For many individuals, men especially, we tend to take our health and our physical capabilities for granted a bit. Physical tasks that are easy now may not be as easy in the future, and doing activities without the proper form may not be felt in the moment, but they can come back to haunt you down the road. That’s why it is so important that we take our spine health seriously and really work to prevent issues now and in the future. We share why that’s so important and how we can keep our spines healthy for years to come in today’s blog.
Take Spine Health Seriously
Health and wellness is important for your whole body, but your spine should be an area of emphasis for a number of reasons. For starters, back pain is one of if not the most common pain condition in the world, as more than 90 percent of people can expect to experience chronic or acute back pain at some point in their life. You might believe that because it is so common that we’ve developed surefire ways to treat the issues when they arise, but you’d be wrong. The spine is composed of a complex system of muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves and vertebrae, and damage to any of these areas can make it difficult to diagnose and treat your issue.
Another reason why it is so important to care for your spine while it’s healthy is because treatment can’t always return you to full health. For example, when you break your arm, you can typically cast it and then go through some physical therapy after healing has occurred and end up as strong or stronger than you were before the injury. That’s not always the case with your spine.
Many of the problems that affect the spine are degenerative in nature. Problems like degenerative disc disease, spinal cord narrowing or spinal disc height loss are all issues that can’t really be healed once they’ve progressed. Treatment can help reduce symptoms and make life more bearable, but you can’t regain disc height that has been lost over time due to wear and tear. It’s so important to protect and strengthen your spinal discs and other areas that may be susceptible to degeneration so that it occurs at a much slower rate. You can help slow down natural degeneration with regular exercise, a healthy diet, weight management and avoiding smoking.
Quality of Life
A final reason why it is so important to be mindful of your spinal health each day is because we use our spine for so many daily activities, and you’d be amazed at how even a little pain in this area can greatly impact your quality of life. Shoulder pain or knee discomfort may bother you here and there, but back pain is with you every step of your day, even when you’re off your feet. Spine pain can make sitting in your favorite chair uncomfortable, and it can disrupt healthy sleep. Combined with the point we made above that it’s not always easy to treat, you can see how back pain can be quite an issue when you’re older if you don’t take care of your spine when you’re young!
For help with any aspect of your spine care, or to get a diagnosis at the hands of an experienced professional, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi’s office today.
