Degenerative Disc Disease Is Not Hereditary
Degenerative disc disease gets some bad reps; understand that it’s not a good thing to have and is often misunderstood. Just because your mother might have degenerative disc disease does not mean that you have to have it nor will have it. First, recognize that even though it has the word disease in it, it is not actually a disease. Second, we think that all older people will have degenerative disc disease, which is also not true. Most people that have degenerative disc disease will say that they are shrinking as they are growing older, they might say my bones are shrinking! When in actuality your bones are sort of growing and therefore destroying the disc space in between the bones. You are shrinking because your disc space is decreasing.
How does degenerative disc disease even appear/manifest/or happen? First, let’s cover what a subluxation is. A subluxation occurs in your spinal column that places pressure upon one or more spinal nerves which creates an entire central nerve system dysfunction. It creates havoc within your entire body, not just the one or more nerves being affected. When a subluxation exists for a period of time uncorrected it creates instability within your spinal column. If you have instability within your spinal column for an extended period of time your body will begin to stabilize itself. When your body begins to stabilize the spinal column it will do so with the strongest material that it is capable of developing, bone. Degenerative disc disease can first start out as fragments of calcification leading to formation of bone (bone spurs). Think of it this way: if your house is leaning over and is unstable, you are going to build upon it with a strong support system in place. Your body will do the same thing!
Individuals with degenerative disc disease can have safe and effective chiropractic adjustments to maintain the amount of growth present. Chiropractors cannot take away the degeneration that occurred, but can maintain the growth by providing specific chiropractic adjustments to form proper stability within the spinal column. Get your nerves checked!
