Your San Diego Chiropractor Wants You to Know That Just a Few Additional Pounds Can Make a Big Difference in the Long Run
March 17th, 2010 | by admin |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. What’s a few extra pounds? Over time, extra weight can add up to a substantial number of health challenges from heart and pulmonary diseases and diabetes to back problems and joint degeneration. Even a few additional pounds put harmful stress on organs, like the heart, not to mention on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Over half (62%) of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is a very significant number and an enormous dilemma (no pun intended).
Though we try to pretend otherwise, most of us know that the human body was not designed to schlepp around surplus weight in the form of body fat. Just 20 or 30 extra pounds can, in point of fact, overload and overburden the joints and muscles of the body. Excess weight in the tummy, for example, makes it necessary for the body to compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This angle puts pressure on the joints of the low back. Painful inflammation results as this joint compression restricts nerve activity. The majority of individuals that have a “spare tire”experience low back pain generated by a pinched sciatic nerve or spinal misalignments that constrict nerves as a result of weight-bearing stresses. If ignored, misaligned vertebra generally create new arthritic changes in the spine over time, as well as persist in irritating the degenerative changes that have already taken place.
Here are the ways in which chiropractic treatment can help. First of all, to be clear, a moderate body weight is requisite in order for the musculoskeletal system to act and respond in the way it is built to. Chiropractic treatment can not only relieve pain generated by excess weight compensation, but it can aid in weight reduction. Here’s how. Chiropractic adjustments relieve nerve compression in the vertebral column and help to get motion back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, especially in the low back, hips, and knees. And, naturally exercise and physical activity will be a lot easier, and more beneficial for the body, when the spine is in alignment and the joints have good movement. The added benefit of exercise the, in addition to helping with weight reduction, it can actually delay degenerative changes as we age.
healthcare professionals, like your chiropractor, can talk to you about your diet and exercise choices. In addition to assisting individuals suffering from back pain and joint inflammation, chiropractors offer qualified suggestions on the particular lifestyle corrections that can help you to stay healthier, more vital, and more active through the years. It isn’t a foregone conclusion that arthritis and immobility are just a part of the aging process. The human body was intended for a lifetime of pain-free movement.
So, if those extra pounds have been sneaking up on you, and they’ve turned into a surprising load of pain, as your San Diego chiropractor and someone who understands, I can help. Make an appointment today!
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