The Impact of Dysfunctions in the Spine

There can be many dysfunctions in the spine that happen over time as a natural consequence of your day-to-day lifestyles – and while these happen naturally and most often without us really noticing too much – they are things that need to be fixed if you want to have a spine that has the best defense against injury and will not degrade too early and cause you pain that often tends to strike when you become middle-aged. Oftentimes we see spines where the lower back has too much or too little curve, or where the neck has become straight, or likewise has too much or too little curve. During activities in the day such as sitting at a desk, or having a job where there is significant manual labor like cleaners, painters or decorators – generally these are the occupations in which we see spines that have strayed away from the natural, ideal curvature. While you may not notice any effects from having a dysfunctional spine in the short-term, not paying attention to your posture can have serious knock-on effects later on in life so it’s important to correct the spine early on, to avoid these problems later on.

The Ideal Curvature

The natural curvature of the spine has an impressive ability to shock-absorb from the pressures that we put on it in our daily lives. From weightlifting at the gym, high-impact sports such as running or tennis to name just a couple, to lifting heavy things in the home or at work, our spine when it’s in an optimal position, can for the most part absorb these stressors without causing injury. But if you lose that natural curvature, it then leaves our bodies susceptible to injury because the body is unable to shock-absorb as efficiently. This creates a knock-on effect in quite a simple way – if the spine is unable to absorb shock, or it’s structured in a way that has become abnormal, it can lead to more pressure being placed on areas of the spine that aren’t really designed to absorb that much pressure. This commonly happens in the lower back or neck, the areas most susceptible to injury. With that increased pressure on the vertebras in the spine, leads to increased pressure on the discs in those areas. While they initially may cope under the stress, it can lead to reduced disc space, degeneration and dehydration of the discs, which can eventually make it more likely injuries such as disc bulges or herniations should occur. From these disc bulges or herniations you will then perhaps see radiating symptoms – perhaps in the form of frequent headaches, tingling or pain in the arms, hands, or legs and feet – or symptoms like sciatica start occuring.