Osteoarthritis, Is it a necessary part of aging?

Is osteoarthritis a natural part of the aging process? For those of you saying, “Osteo, What?”, osteoarthritis means bone (Osteo) joint (arthro) inflammation (itis). Another name for osteoarthritis is degenerative disc disease (in the spine) or degenerative joint disease (DJD). Whatever the name the result is the same, your joint hurts. Degenerative joint disease affects many age groups from the very old (most common) to the very young (slight beginning signs). Although many things can contribute to osteoarthritis, the most prevalent cause is loss of joint motion.

Synovial joints (knuckles, shoulders, knees), most joints of your body, don’t have a direct blood supply. The circulation of synovial fluid throughout the joint supplies joint nutrition. Without proper synovial fluid circulation the joint basically begins to starve to death, initiating the degenerative process. Synovial fluid is circulated through joint movement. This is similar to the way an intervertebral disc obtains nutrients. Like a synovial joint, an intervertebral disc does not have a direct blood supply. The intervertebral disc soaks up nutrients from the blood rich vertebra, similar to a sponge soaking up water. This process also relies on the pumping mechanism of joint movement. Both synovial joints and intervertebral discs need proper joint motion to maintain proper nutrient flow. There is truth to the age-old adages, “Life is motion.” and “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!” Animal experiments show evidence of DJD in immobilized healthy joints in as little as 4 weeks.1

(Osteoarthritis, Is it a necessary part of aging? By Dr. Callie C. Mohn)

In the earliest stages, DJD may not produce any pain. It may then progress to an occasionally sore joint. Often these joints will be stiff in the morning and cause pain as the weather changes. Increasing movement in the area will generally make these joints fell better. As the joint loses more motion, the body tries to maintain its overall normal range of motion by demanding more movement from surrounding joints. After time, the increased demand on surrounding joints starts to accumulate as microtrauma (little hurts), which contributes to loss of joint motion.

Remember, our bodies are designed to be healthy. Our skeletal structure is designed to maintain itself for approximately 120 years.2 For many cultures it is common place to live over 100 years of age. If DJD was part of the natural aging process, all joints of the body should be similarly affected at similar rates. There are more factors involve in DJD besides age. Some in their early 20’s have shown significant degeneration. Degeneration does not happen over night. Joint degeneration is an accumulative process taking 20 – 30 years to develop or as little as 5 years in the case of a significant trauma. Earliest signs of joint degeneration can occur as early as childhood. Due to the accumulative affects of spinal neglect and microtrauma, as a group, the elderly have the most cases of debilitating DJD.

The million-dollar question is what can be done about osteoarthritis. Chiropractically speaking, it means to take care of yourself through proper spinal hygiene and regular chiropractic check ups and/or adjustments for subluxation (nerve pressure) – fixation (decreased joint movement). Give yourself proper time to heal. Nature’s healing time for tendons and ligaments is approximately 60 – 90 days.3 Move you body regularly taking joints through their proper range of motion. Sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs. Sleep on a feather or cervical contour pillow. Stay away from waterbeds and do not sleep on the couch! If you have a sedentary job, get up and walk around 5 minutes out of each hour. When sitting, sit as erect as possible. Slouching indicates muscle weakness. Keep abdominal muscles in proper tone. Take care of your spine, it cannot be replaced. It is never too late to start preventative measures, the body is an amazing self-healing organism.