Is It Just Your Age?

Photo by Israel Gil on Unsplash

“You know, for the longest time I thought that these problems with my back are just a normal. The older I get, the more I feel it. I had no idea I could do something about it.”   I hear this statement daily from my patients. All too often traditional health care fails in treatment of neck and back pain. Time and time again many physicians are writing off stiffness and ache to aging and telling patients to rest and take medicine.

Unfortunately, most people don’t know that what may first appear as stiffness and discomfort can quickly progress to something more serious. Back stiffness if left untreated will progress to mild discomfort, then to pain, then to numbness and tingling, further to burning and possibly result in muscle weakness.  

At first, rest and medication will mask the symptoms. Later, you may need something stronger like an injection and then if left untreated you may require surgery. What most conventional doctors fail to tell you is that there is a different route you can take.

Start taking control over your symptoms by educating yourself. Internet is full of good and bad advice, so how do you know what is wrong and what is right? Make sure you are getting your information from a credible source. Here at Healing In Motion Physical Therapy we specialize in ending back pain and helping you return to the lifestyle you desire. We loaded up our website with downloads and blogs to help you make a good decision on what to do next.

Don’t settle for the idea that “it’s just aging.” What may seem like an easy excuse you can give yourself to stop going to the gym, giving up golf, not picking up your grandkids, etc. will lead you to a darker place of pain, weakness and loss of mobility and independence.

You see, as we age, we adopt certain posture and movement patterns. You can picture your parents and grandparents. Forward shoulders, forward head, knees bent, leaning on a cane or a walker. They always complained about their neck and back hurting. The great news is that you don’t need to end up like your beloved family members. You can change your future and thrive into your 70s, 80s and possibly 90s.

I work with people of all ages and what I noticed, is that the people in their 80s and 90s who are vibrant, healthy and happy are the ones who are active and refuse to sit still. They are busy in the community, babysit grand kids and take care of their sick friends.

You may have noticed how stress, sit down job, sitting in traffic causes you to stiffen up in the hips and shoulders. When the hips are tight and you try to stand up, your tight hip flexors are creating a pull on your back. Also, when the shoulders are tight and your midback is stiff, you will increase the pulling forces on the lower back and neck. Now you feel stiffness and compression. If immobility has caused your symptoms, it makes perfect sense to counteract it with movement. But why does your doctor tell you to rest and take pills?

Unfortunately some doctors don’t believe in physical therapy. And they have a good reason. Back pain is very complicated and can be coming from a variety of different factors. It is difficult to treat and most PTs are limited by 30 minute appointments and are burnt out by seeing 20 - 30 patients a day. They mean well, I’ve been there myself, but it is simply impossible to give quality care on something complex when you are mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted.

At Healing in Motion Physical Therapy we believe in quality of our care. We offer 1 hour appointments and don’t see more than 6 patients a day because we want to feel rested and creative so that we can deliver a good outcome for you.

Back pain is the symptom of your lifestyle. Your habits and behaviors need to be changed in order to treat the root cause. Otherwise, anything you do just covers it up. 

For you to be completely free of back pain, you have to stand differently, sit differently, be more active, drink water and adopt an active lifestyle. It is that simple, yet it is very difficult. This change takes skill, time and patience. Manual therapy and core exercises are not enough. 

The great news is that this can be done and we change people’s lives everyday here at Healing in Motion Physical Therapy. We refuse to settle for the excuse that “this is just your age”. 

We continue to invite you to take advantage of our Free Sample Session.

Do you know how easy it is to be pain free?

Better yet, do you know that you don’t need a referral from your doctor or a pre-authorization from your insurance?

A lot of times people wait and procrastinate because they don’t know what to do. Start here, start with a Sample Session and find out what you can do to age gracefully, be more active and healthy.
There is no financial commitment required from you. The session is absolutely FREE to you. If nothing else, use it to find out what’s wrong and what your options are.

Don’t wait any longer. One thing I can promise you is that nothing is going to change unless you take that first step.

Here is to your vibrant health,
Elena