Can chiropractic care benefit seniors?

The fastest growing age group of the American population is people over the age of 65. The baby boomer generation is aging, and with this comes new challenges. This includes new conditions that patients must deal with, challenges in covering this huge population with traditional Medicare, and having enough trained professionals who can handle care for an aging population. Chiropractic care can help with all of these challenges!
People over the age of 65 are at much greater risk for musculoskeletal disorders. As your body ages, natural processes begin to lead to degeneration of joints and reduced muscular strength. Many people experience aches and pains that they hadn't before. Some also develop debilitating pain that can be very difficult to treat. In addition to this, a majority of the aging population is on some type of prescription medication. When new pains develop, a common strategy is treatment of the symptom of pain with pain killing prescription drugs. Chiropractic aims to find the cause of the pain, not treat the symptoms. By locating malfunctioning joints in your spine, and restoring the proper function, nerve irritation can be released, allowing the body to return to its normal, pain free state.
In addition to musculoskeletal problems, osteoporosis is a major challenge in aging populations. To prevent osteoporosis, proper nutrition and weight bearing exercises are absolutely necessary. These exercises are very difficult to do when you are in pain. Chiropractic can help you avoid pain by keeping your joints functioning properly, allowing you to perform your necessary exercises.
Preventive care can help relieve the burden on both Medicare and health care professionals. Insuring proper function of your joints allows you to stay pain free and healthy. This reduces visits to the doctor, and the amount of prescription medications needed. Following a good wellness plan, including exercise, nutrition, and regular chiropractic adjustments is very important to healthy aging!