San Diego Chiropractor Advises: Don’t Let a Few Added Pounds Put Your Joints on Overload
As a Chiropractor in San Diego, I counsel many individuals who come to my clinic who want to lose weight. I know how hard it can be, and I also know how important it is to lose those extra pounds. Before you let out all the seams in your current wardrobe, there’s something you may want to know about those few additional pounds you may have gained. As we age, they can add up to a substantial number of health issues from heart and pulmonary diseases and diabetes to back challenges and joint degeneration. Extra pounds put excessive stress on organs, like the heart, not to mention on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Sadly,more than half (62%) of men and women in the U.S. are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is a very significant percentage and an enormous dilemma (no pun intended).
Though it is capable of making a surprising array of compensations the human body was not designed to carry around surplus weight in the form of body fat. Just an additional 20 or 30 pounds can veritably overload and encumber the joints and muscles of the body. Excess weight in the tummy, for example, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. The tilt creates compression in the joints of the low back. Joint compression restricts nerve activity and causes painful inflammation. A larger percentage of men and women that have a heavy midsectionfeel substantial pain in their low back generated by a pinched sciatic nerve or spinal misalignments that restrict nerves as a result of weight-bearing stresses. If not addresses, misaligned vertebra in most cases produce new arthritic changes in the spine over time, as well as continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place.
Are you wondering how chiropractic can help? Perhaps, it should go without saying that a healthy body weight is essential in order for the musculoskeletal system to perform in the way it is meant to. Chiropractic treatment can not only help to decrease pain generated by excess weight compensation, but it can aid in weight reduction. Here’s how. Chiropractic adjustments relieve nerve compression in the spine and help to get mobility back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, especially in the low back, hips, and knees. And, obviously exercise and physical activity are a lot easier, and more beneficial for the body, when the the joints have good movement and the spine is aligned. Not only will exercise help with weight reduction, but it can actually slow the pace of degenerative changes as the body ages.
Healthcare professionals, like your chiropractor, can talk to you about your diet and exercise alternatives. In addition to helping men and women suffering from back pain and joint inflammation, chiropractors offer expert guidance regarding the type of lifestyle changes that can help you to stay healthier, more energetic, and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility due to aging don’t have to be unavoidable. The structure of the human body is designed for an entire lifetime of pain-free movement.
So, if those extra few pounds have started to add up to a lot of pain, as your chiropractor in San Diego and someone who cares deeply about your overall health, I can help. Make an appointment today!