Are we outliving our Spines?
At a breakfast meeting the other day, John Hall who is a financial planner at Waddell and Reed Inc., stood up and commented about the large number of American’s outliving their retirement. The average age is now 78 years old (which is up by 10 years from 20 years ago). When we do retire from working every day and since we are living longer, what will happen to our bodies? Most people are worried about having financial freedom which is extremely important, but what about having the freedom to enjoy our golden years by being able to stay active, travel, play with grandchildren etc? It has been reported that the largest cost for American’s over the age of 65 is not mortgage payments or living expenses, but health care costs. The truth is, as we go through life most of us are not concerned about protecting the investment of our bodies and figure it will take care of itself.
As an example, many patients have the notion in their head that arthritis is a normal and natural process of the spine and they are not concerned about the effects and the solutions that are easily available for prevention and management of the condition. Just the way, 50 years ago, wearing dentures was expected past a certain age before dentists have done a great job in educating the public on preventing dental problems so that we can hold on to our teeth and gums.
Just the same, our spines take a toll with our current lifestyles. The demands most of us adults place with incorrect posture on a day to day basis for years, sports injuries and repetitive strain injuries tend to decrease the life of our spinal joints and have shown an increase in rate of arthritis showing up in the spine.
How do we then protect and invest in our future health and wellbeing? The answer is simple, obvious actually but we are usually too busy with our present rat-race of a life to think about the future of our bodies. PREVENTION!
Yes, eating better, taking a multi-vitamin, getting your spine checked regularly by a chiropractor from birth, not taking pain pills on a long-term basis and exercising routinely can go a long way to protecting your health and allowing you to enjoy the freedom and hopefully the financial strengths of the golden years.
After all, life is not about the quantity of money or quantity of time, but the QUALITY of that time.
