Commonly, people attribute the first symptom of a new condition as being when the condition started. Sometimes this is the case particularly when a recent trauma has happened. However usually the first symptom is a sign of a condition that has been progressing for years. This is because conditions go through stages as they progress. The first step is trauma or stress on the body and for our purposes we will use a joint as the example. When it comes to our joints, excess stress to an area over time leads to breakdown and damage to the joint as a form of trauma. As that breakdown progresses over time the health and function of the joint decreases until one day we bend over slightly the wrong way and all of a sudden have intense low back pain. It wasn’t bending over that caused the condition, it was the excess stress on a joint that had been occurring for years without symptoms until one motion became too much for it to handle, leading to pain and inflammation. So what caused the excess stress to occur in the joint to begin with?
When our bodies aren’t in the optimal position for day to day movement patterns, we’re applying excess stress on our joints. This stress may not be noticeable until we have made the incorrect way of movement or posture habitual and then the body starts to adapt to the extra pressure the joints have been under over time. This can start with symptoms such as tight muscles that are trying to guard or help the excess forces the joints are trying to handle or noticing that you no longer have the mobility you use too. These are signs of a dysfunction that is occurring at the joints. So how do we prevent this from happening or maybe you’re noticing some of these symptoms already
The chiropractic profession is well equipped for assessing and treating conditions of the musculo-skeletal system. Using chiropractic manipulative therapy and sometimes physical therapy we can restore motion in the joints and improve function of the muscles around it. This helps the body handle the forces that travel through it correctly and prevents prolonged stress on our joints which leads to those conditions that seem like they happened over night when in fact they began sometimes decades ago.