It's no secret that an active lifestyle can help you stay healthier as you get older. In fact, vigorous exercise performed just 15 - 20 minutes per week decreased the risk of death by 16 - 40% in a research study published in the European Heart Journal. Luckily, chiropractic will help you keep your muscles and joints limber and ready for your favorite type of exercise.
Worried About Falls? Chiropractic Helps You Keep Your Balance
Good balance is important whether you're running, playing pickleball, or participating in a dance class. Even a walk around the neighborhood can become dangerous if you step on a rock and can't keep your balance.
As you get older, balance can be affected by weaker muscles and declining bone strength. Subluxations, misalignments in the vertebrae that make up your spine, can also cause balance problems. A subluxation can affect the mobility of your joints and increase tension in your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. If you have any of these issues, a slight wobble or misstep could turn into a nasty fall.
Many people have subluxations, but don't realize it. In fact, poor posture is a common cause of misalignments. It's easy to forget about posture basics whether you're walking, driving, or hurrying to finish a project at work. Over time, posture issues can pull your vertebrae out of alignment. Headaches, stiffness, tenderness, sore muscles and joints, or difficulty moving your joints easily may mean you have a subluxation.
Spinal manipulation, a key chiropractic treatment, corrects subluxation and may also improve your balance and the stability of your joints. During spinal manipulation, quick thrusts performed with the hands or an activator realign your vertebrae. Correcting subluxation eases pain, loosens muscles and tissues, and relieves pressure on nerves, in addition to improving your body's natural balance.
Concerned About Exercise Injuries? Chiropractic Can Lower Your Risk
Although exercise is important throughout your life, it comes with certain challenges as you get older. Tendons, ligaments, and tissues stiffen with age, increasing your risk of conditions ranging from sprains to knee injuries to Achilles tendon tears.
If your joints and tissues are tight, you're more likely to experience a workout-related injury. Spinal manipulation, massage, soft tissue mobilization, flexion-distraction, and other chiropractic treatments keep your tissues flexible and lower your risk of strains, sprains, and other injuries.
Improving Your Range of Motion with Chiropractic Offers Fitness Benefits
Subluxations and tight tissues prevent your joints from moving freely. As a result, your tennis or golf swing may suffer, or you may notice it's harder to perform yoga poses or extend your arms fully when swimming. Regular visits to the chiropractor help you avoid range of motion problems that can affect your performance and lead to injuries.
Chiropractic Eases Pain Before and After Exercise
When you're in pain, exercising is probably the last thing you want to do. Unfortunately, pain and stiffness are more likely to occur with exercise as you get older.
Chiropractic treatments relieve joint, muscle and tissue pain, making exercise more enjoyable. Visiting your chiropractor after a marathon, golf tournament, or busy weekend ensures that subluxations are corrected before they can cause muscle or joint pain.
In addition to realigning your spine and loosening tight tissues, chiropractic treatments trigger the release of endorphins and serotonin. These hormones naturally decrease pain and also enhance relaxation and your sense of well-being.
Are you ready to add chiropractic care to your exercise routine? Contact our office to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
Oxford Academic: European Heart Journal: Vigorous Physical Activity, Incident Heart Disease, and Cancer: How Little Is Enough, 12/7/2022
Chiropractic & Manual Therapies: The Role of Chiropractic Care in Older Adults, 2/21/12
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3306193/
WebMD: Chiropractic Care for Joint Problems: What to Know, 10/1/20
https://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/chiropractic-care-for-joint-problems
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics: Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care to Improve Sensorimotor Function Associated With Falls Risk in Older People: A Randomized Controlled Trial, 5/16
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27050038/
https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/43/46/4801/6771381?login=false