Photo by kaurjmeb from flickr creative commons

As we age our bodies can undergo physical changes in posture that lead to pain and disability. There are several key areas of the spine that change with age and are directly related to long term health. We’ve all seen the elderly man or woman hunched over holding a cane or walker just struggling to stay upright. How did they end up that way? It didn’t happen overnight. It is a progression of increasing bad postures and spinal structure that can be avoided if addressed early enough.

This study used a method involving photographing women’s backs and measuring shifts side to side, front to back and changes in the curves of the spine. These measurements were then compared across different age groups of women. The results showed a consistent increase in the curve of the spine in the mid to upper back. Grouped by decades, women who were 60-70 years old had greater curves than 50-60 year olds and 70 to 80 year olds had the largest increases in spinal curvature and deformation. They also had a progressive decrease of the normal curve in the lower back and a tilt forward of the entire upper body. All of these changes are cause for concern for several reasons.

As the curve in the upper to mid back increases it puts pressure on the lungs decreasing how well you can breathe. Not being able to breathe is obviously not good short term and can limit activity levels. Long term inefficiency of breathing decreases the amount of oxygen available in tissues, slowly breaking down multiple systems and organs throughout our bodies. It also makes fully clearing out the lungs difficult leading to lung disease. The increased curve and tilt forward of the upper body upsets balance and greatly increase the chance of falls, makes any getting around more difficult and ultimately decreases how independent someone can be.

The decrease in the curve in the lower back comes with its own set of problems. The curves are the shock absorber of the spine like the curve in a spring. The loss of curve transfers the pressure to the discs causing them to wear out and break down. The changes will also put additional force into the hips and legs possibly contributing to hip fractures.

There are many changes in the spine that occur with age not just an increase in curve in the mid back. The curve in the lower back decreases, the whole torso shifts forward, or just the head may shift forward over the body. The point is a plan to help must start with a detailed analysis of all aspects of the spine and posture not just one area.

The plan to fix these spinal structural issues must also be comprehensive and address all of the potential causes of the shifts to the spine and posture. Exercises to strengthen muscles of the back were one of the focuses for treatment in this paper. That is an important starting point but only addresses one part of the problem. Exercise alone is not enough to change poor spinal structure. In some cases additional treatments are necessary to get true structural correction of the spinal shifts.

A complete plan to correct poor spinal structure and posture will have exercises to strengthen the muscles as one component. But muscles are not the only things that hold the spine in place. There are also ligaments that connect all of the spinal bones like strapping on a package that need to be changed to hold the spine in the corrected posture using specific therapies. All of the joints of our bodies, spine included, are always sending information to our brains about where they are and what is happening. Specific adjustments to the spine will help “reset” this information to retrain the brain to hold the spine in the correct posture. Then you have to look at what caused the spine to shift into this poor posture. No treatment plan is complete without reviewing proper ergonomic advice for daily activities, nutrition recommendations to give the body all of the fuel it needs to properly repair itself and other instruction for maintaining the structural corrections achieved when at home.

A Chiropractor who specifically deals with spinal structure will have the tools to properly evaluate all spinal shifts and put together a comprehensive plan to prevent the negative spinal shifts seen in this study, keeping you active and healthy as you age. Visit Ideal Spine to find a Chiropractor near you that can help you achieve your health goals.

BMC Geriatrics 2013, 13:108

By Dr Scott Szela