Age: Am I not just getting older?

Age is something that I hear blamed for many things from my chiropractic patients. Age is commonly blamed for symptoms and a lot of people believe that it is just part of getting older. Lots of people blame their symptoms on age. Yes age plays a part but it is not the be all and end all. I’m going to give you a couple of examples as to how quick we are to blame age for our symptoms.

I’ve got to expect a few aches and pains I am getting a bit older

I had a lady come in to see me in our chiropractic clinic in Eastbourne and she said the standard thing, ‘well I’ve got to expect a few aches and pains I am getting a bit older now’, and this is something that is very commonly accepted. However, this lady was 23 years old. This to me demonstrates how much we associate aches and pains with age. There are certain things that we are definitely more likely to get as we age but I see plenty of people at Lushington chiropractic in Eastbourne in their 70s who have exactly the same problems as people who I see in their 20s. Whenever someone says this to me I can’t just accept it. I need to do a full consultation to understand what has contributed to these symptoms and see if there are things that I can do to help, and often there are.

I have arthritis because I am old

Another great example is with knee arthritis. This is standard knee wear and tear caused by osteoarthritis. The left knee is always the same age as the right knee and yet one knee always wears sooner than the other, these are things that we need to think about. In these situations there is always something going on that is causing one knee to wear faster than the other, normally it is a biomechanical problem that is leading to extra pressure on one part of one knee. This can come from the feet, it can come from the hip or from the lower back. This is why it’s incredibly important when you have knee osteoarthritis, or any knee pain actually, that you get things assessed to check each of the areas that can impact the knee. I have had many people, at our chiropractic clinic in Eastbourne, come and see me where I could trace their knee pain back to an injury that they had had long before. One particular gentleman that I remember was 75 years old and had a terribly arthritic left knee, his right knee was fine, and his injury was traced back to a footballing accident. He had sustained an injury to his knee that had left dysfunction in his knee and that led to his left knee wearing quicker than his right. So, in his situation rather than age it was time that led to the wear and tear in his left knee. As chiropractors we cannot undo osteoarthritis, but we can help to deal with the pain caused by it as an adjunct to core osteoarthritis treatment and exercise. Commonly the pain is not even caused by arthritis and is actually a muscle pain. This can then be helped with muscle work and exercise. For some good knee exercises click here 

These two examples show that it is never right to give up and accept pain is a thing of age. I have seen many people in their 90s, in our chiropractic clinic in Eastbourne, and with treatment things improve. Like I said earlier we can’t undo wear and tear, but we can help with joint pain and other issues unrelated to arthritis. If you are curious as to whether anything can be done about your complaints, please feel free to give us a ring at Lushington Chiropractic clinic in Eastbourne on 01323 722499. At our chiropractic clinic we offer a complimentary chat meaning that you can briefly discuss your complaint with one of our chiropractors prior to booking a consultation to see whether they think they might be able to help. Please feel free to check out our website here for more information.

Yours in health,

Mykel Mason your Eastbourne chiropractor