YourSpine.com - Chiropractic - Report:Spinal Arthritis Begins Within Two Weeks of Joint Immobility

Report:Spinal Arthritis Begins Within Two Weeks of Joint Immobility

Spinal Pathophysiology refers to the osteoarthritic degenerative changes that occur in a spine that has lost its normal range of motion. The journal Clinical Biomechanics reported as far back as 1987 (issue 2:223-229) that joint immobility, such as that which occurs in the Vertebral Subluxation Complex, can lead to permanent damage in as little as two weeks.

According to T. Videman, author of the study, "The evidence in this review shows that immobilizing healthy joints in experimental animals can lead inexorably to osteoarthritis. With respect to [human] patients, it can be postulated that immobilization, for whatever cause, will initiate a pathogenic [disease producing] chain of musculo-skeletal degenerative changes."

And the joints don't have to be stuck for a single long period, either. A joint immobilized one day a week for 14 weeks shows the same amount of damage as one immobilized for 14 days in a row. The damage accumulates over all the time the joint was immobilized.

How does this relate to Chiropractic? When a spinal subluxation occurs, the joints become stuck or immobile, unable to move in their normal range of motion and the degenerative process known as osteoarthritis begins. According to Videman, if this immobility is not corrected within two weeks, the osteoarthritis becomes permanent. These permanent changes can't be reversed but they can be kept from getting worse by restoring the mobility to the stuck joint.

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