By Dr. Behar and Dr. Browner
We are all familiar with the statement: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Perhaps you have even used it a few times yourself. However, these can be dangerous words if referring to one’s health.
People who believe this about their health may be heading down a slippery slope to serious health problems. The “if it ain’t broke…” belief is founded on the notion that since pain usually means there is a problem, no pain must mean there’s no problem. Those that hold this view make decisions about their health based entirely on how they feel. Tragically, health care is littered with catastrophic examples demonstrating the naiveté of this belief. Heart disease and cancer are two extreme examples on a long list of conditions that can develop silently, with no symptoms.
Back pain is one such condition. Remember the time you bent over and suddenly couldn’t move because of pain? That back problem didn’t just happen. Ninety percent of back and neck pain is a direct result of failure in management of spinal health. In other words, spinal pain is not the start of a problem, it is the end result. A spine can be dysfunctional (not working correctly) for months or years before any pain is felt, thanks to the body’s many compensating mechanisms. However, when the body runs out of ways to compensate, or the compensating mechanisms finally give up, the white flag goes up in the form of pain signals.
Science is now telling us there is more to silent spinal dysfunction problems than even most health practitioners are aware. Spinal dysfunction is usually the result of postural distortion (imbalance), and abnormal spinal alignment and curvature. Those structural problems, together with the abnormal function they produce, have been shown to cause premature deterioration of the spine, as well as adverse effects on the nervous system. Indeed, the long-term health consequences of structural and functional problems of the spine can be profound, yet often unnecessary.
Do not let pain be your guide. Instead, be proactive with regards to your spinal health. Book a chiropractic spinal check-up today. A better statement to live by is: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
- For a consultation or more information you can reach Dr. Browner and Dr. Behar at Windmill Health Center in Weston at 954-217-4881. They have two additional locations to serve you in Pembroke Pines and Naples; contact the Weston location for more information.