Spinal Degeneration “The Silent Epidemic”

Spinal degeneration is a silent epidemic that no one is talking about and here are the facts:

• • 9% of children are showing signs of low back disc degeneration by the age of 10! MRI scans of the 5 lower back discs in the spines of 154 children showed that they had some degeneration as well as bulging and protrusion of the discs. The important point to grasp here is that while this degeneration was going on, none of the children experienced any pain or symptoms of any kind! Because only approximately 9% of nerves transmit pain in an adult (and even less in children) it is very common for nerves to be irritated without experiencing symptoms. Probably the most alarming fact of all in this study is what they didn’t check! Out of the 23 discs residing in the spine, only the 5 lower back discs were checked. So, if the discs in the lower back are degenerating, the possibility of similar degeneration going on in any of the remaining 18 discs is quite likely. If that’s the case, the number of children suffering with spinal degeneration is sure to be far greater than 9%.
  • 37% of asymptomatic 20-year-olds show signs of disk degeneration!
  • 80% of individuals over the age of 50 show signs of disk degeneration!

These are alarming figures and blows up the myth that spinal degeneration just happens with old age. That is simply just not true and we can no longer use that excuse. Is it true that the older we are the more likely we will have some sort of degeneration in our spine, sure, but is age or gender the driving factor? Absolutely not!

So how in the world does this happen, especially in 10-year-old kids? Well, if you’re a parent, or anyone who has ever encountered, or been a kid, then you’d know only too well that they spend a lot of their time falling over, scraping their knees and bumping their heads. Over time all those little accidents can cause the spinal bones to misalign or to stiffen up. Spinal degeneration begins early and is usually asymptotic and remains asymptomatic until it is advanced and more difficult to treat. It has been proven that spinal fixation resulted in spur and calcification formation along with dehydration of the disc and degenerative changes in the vertebral bodies. The degenerative changes seen were directly proportional to the amount of time the fixation had been present. Research shows it only takes 14 days for a spinal fixation to begin degenerating. If your teeth started getting cavities and degenerating in 14 days how quickly would you see the dentist knowing this? Don’t neglect your spine!

So, when was the last healthy thing you did for your spine? Can’t remember? The best time to start is now!