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Your Oxnard Chiropractor Warns: Don’t Let Excess Pounds Put Your Joints on Overload
Posted by: | CommentsYour Oxnard Chiropractor, Dr. Donald Bolt, treats many patients who are suffering from weight-related musculoskeletal problems. It is no secret that carrying around excess body weight, especially as we age, can cause a number of health problems from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to back and joint pain. Extra body weight puts undue stress on organs, like the heart, and on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Over half (62%) of American adults are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is a very significant number and a big problem (no joke).
Excessive weight, in the form of body fat, is hard on the structure of the human body. It was not designed for the added. Only an additional 20 or 30 pounds can put the musculoskeletal system literally on overload. Weight in the belly, for instance, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This creates compression in the joints of the low back. Joint compression constricts nerve activity and produces painful inflammation. Weight-bearing stresses can cause a pinched sciatic nerve or create misalignments of the spinal column that impinge nerves. This is the reason that most overweight individuals suffer from low back pain. Misaligned vertebra can not only create new arthritic changes in the spine, but can continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place over time.
How can chiropractic help? Though a healthy body weight is absolutely indispensible for the ideal performance of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractic treatment relieves nerve restrictions in the spine and helps to restore motion back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, like in the low back, hips, and knees. And, exercise and physical activity is a lot easier when the spine is in alignment and the joints have healthy motion. Exercise will not only help in weight reduction, but it can actually delay degenerative changes as we age.
It is always best to discuss diet and exercise with a healthcare professional, like Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard. Chiropractors not only help individuals get pain relief from back challenges and joint inflammation due to arthritis but, in addition, they offer expert advice on the type of lifestyle changes that can aid an individual in staying healthier and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility as we get older do not have to be inevitable. The human body was designed for a lifetime of pain-free movement.
So, if you’ve been throwing your weight around and all you’ve been getting in return is back and joint pain, Dr. Bolt can help relieve your suffering. Make an appointment today!
As your Oxnard Chiropractor, Dr. Donald Bolt is concerned about the health of your entire musculoskeletal system, which includes your feet, and he offers these tips, from the New York Times, on how to avoid foot pain: Did you know that a huge number of people develop foot pain in their 60s? If you have foot pain and you’re 60 or over, you may already be painfully aware of this fact. But, the problem can actually start as early as the 20s and 30s.
Age-related factors such as diabetes and circulation problems can contribute to foot pain. But, excessive weight, improper footwear, and a sedentary lifestyle can also be contributing factors, as well, and at any age. Obviously, proper footwear and regular exercise, then, can play a crucial role in preventing foot problems.
Amazingly, the average person walks the equivalent of three times around the Earth in a lifetime. So, it’s not surprising that in a recent survey for the American Podiatric Medical Association, 53 percent of respondents reported foot pain so severe that it hampered their daily function.
Being farthest from the heart, the feet can often be the first part of the body to manifest complications like poor circulation and loss of feeling, both of which can lead to poor wound healing and amputation. In addition, the most common foot conditions that occur with age are arthritic joints, thinning of the fat pads cushioning the soles, plantar fascitis (inflammation of the fibrous tissue along the sole), bunions (enlargement of the joint at the base of the big toe), poor circulation and fungal nails.
Excess weight simply adds to these problems. The force on your feet is about 120 percent of your weight. “Obesity puts a great amount of stress on all the supporting structures of the foot,” said Dr. Bart Gastwirth, a podiatrist at the University of Chicago.
“A lot of people think foot pain is part of the aging process and accept it, and function and walk with pain,” said Dr. Andrew Shapiro, a podiatrist in Valley Stream, N.Y. Though some foot problems are inevitable, their progress can be slowed. If you’d liked slow the progress down, here are a few questions and conditions that are important for you to address: 1) Do you have poor circulation? 2) Do your parents complain about their feet? 3) Do you have flat feet or high arches? Either puts feet at risk. 4) If you can bend back your thumb to touch your lower arm, the ligaments in your feet are probably stretchy, too, Dr. Gastwirth said. 5) Do your shoes fit? In the podiatric association’s survey, more than 34 percent of men said they could not remember the last time their feet were measured. 6) Do you wear high heels? “The high heel concentrates the force on the heel and the forefoot,” Dr. Gastwirth said. 7) Do your feet ever see the light of day? 8 ) Have you seen a podiatrist?
Your Chiropractor in Oxnard summarizes: Believe it not, putting more mileage on your feet is the best way to exercise the muscles and keep them healthy. So, it’s important to lighten up, weight-wise, and wear shoes that are supportive and fit properly. And, if you’re experiencing foot pain, visit an experienced health care professional and find out why…before you walk too many more miles.
To view the original article, go to http://health.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-footpain-ess.html
