What is youth? It’s so many things to so many people, where do you start?
Some people see youth as looking beautiful; less wrinkles, gleaming white teeth, lustrous hair, I’m imagining that a lot of people perceive youth as feeling good from within, well that’s what I’m hoping! Gaining external youth can begin from within, it’s not all about what the surgeon, dentist, hairdresser or designer can do for you it’s what you can do for yourself!
Nutrition is elemental in feeling healthy and looking good, eating a well balanced diet and keeping hydrated will decrease those wrinkles, increase the gloss in your hair and go someway to making you feel full of beans. However a lot of us probably find ourselves stopping at “five a day” and think well that’s me done but there is so much more to feeling young.
Just pause for one second… now consider what does “joint youth” mean to you, is it about not having pain? If the answer was yes then you must think again. Joint youth or lets think of it as joint health is about maintaining the mobility of individual joints before pain or discomfort becomes a daily occurrence. Another, perhaps easier way to understand this, would be to think of the health of your teeth. Do you leave going to the dentist until you have pain or do you go for regular visits to monitor for early decay before it becomes a problem? And do we brush, floss and use mouthwash to reduce our chances of tooth and gum disease, the answer is probably an enthusiastic YES.
In the same way we should be thinking of our joint health, the spine alone consists of 72 articulating joints or facets and when any one of these has reduced movement it has an impact on all the surrounding joints and associated soft tissues. This will not immediately cause pain but in time this build up of pressure will cause an inflammatory response in turn producing a feeling of tightness, pain and possibly heat.
There are some simple steps to reduce the chances of this occurring, much the same as brushing your teeth. Firstly start to move more, I cannot emphasise this enough. “Micro-breaks” are key, you should be standing up from your office chair or moving out of a confined position every 20 minutes. It doesn’t have to be obstructive to your work, just stand up shrug your shoulders and walk around your chair and then carry on with your day having reset your posture. Another key element to maintaining joint health is to stretch twice a day, nothing too arduous just 2-3 minutes of movement. Finally having a regular “check up” by a chiropractor will further increase your chances of maintaining joint youth. Not only does chiropractic offer effective treatment for your joint health we are able to impart a great wealth of evidence informed advice which will increase, not just your joint health, but your overall well being.
So if it’s joint youth that you seek, look no further than our first rate team at West Wickham Chiropractic Health Centre. Why not drop in or call for more information and a complimentary chat to find out how chiropractic treatment would benefit you and your families overall health.
