I had a patient not too long ago whom I had seen in my office. She was having some minor back problems, nothing that you would consider a big deal. It turns out that her x-rays showed MAJOR problems: disc decay, bone spurs, and significant bones out of alignment.
The crazy part is that this had all been there for many years, even decades. That degree of degeneration in the spine takes A LONG TIME to form. The symptoms had only shown up recently though.
Think about this. Take two people. One has a splinter under their finger nail…excruciating pain. Just imagine it. Another person has metastatic cancer with no symptoms at all….yet. Which one do you think is worse?
Here’s the message. If we are relying solely on the presence (or absence) of symptoms as the only measure of our true health, we’re playing a dangerous game.
Make sure you get your teeth checked regularly, before the cavities form. Make sure you get your oil changed on your car regularly, before your engine starts smoking. Make sure you mow your lawn regularly, before the weeds are four feet tall.
And please make sure you get you spinal alignment checked on a regular basis too, before you bend over to pick a up newspaper and your whole back goes out!