One thing you need to know about your discs

Over the past 15 years, I have worked with many folks with disc problems, some mild, some severe.  One of the things I have learned is that very few people understand how their discs work and how to keep them healthy.  Even those who have been through the wringer with physical therapy, orthopedists, surgery, and even chiropractic care still have very little understanding of how the source of all their agony actually works.

So, what's the one thing you need to know about discs?  Except for at the very edges, it has no blood supply!  The only other part of the body that has no blood supply that I know of is the cornea of the eye.

With no blood supply, how does it get it's nutrition and stay hydrated?  It literally draws fluid in from the vertebra above it and the vertebra below it.  Your vertebrae, by the way, have a great blood supply.

I know I said you needed to know one thing about discs, but there's actually two things you need to know.  The second is this:  for nutrients and water to flow into the disc from the bone, there has to be motion in the joint.  If the joint is stuck, even a little, the disc can't get rid of waste, can't draw in enough nutrients, and can't draw in enough water.  In other words, without motion in the spinal joint, the disc becomes a weak, malnourished, dehydrated mess.

Then one day you bend over to pick up a paper clip and BAM! ...your back "goes out."  Keeping your spine moving keeps your discs healthy.  If you haven't been in to get adjusted in more than a month, it's time; no matter how good or bad you feel!  Give us a call and come on in for a tune up, and we'll keep those discs healthy together.

Ken Hicks, D.C.
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com