“My doctor says I have pain because I’m getting old.” That’s a recent quote from a patient. Oh really, what is the diagnosis? Tylenol-deficiency? While it is true that our bodies were not made to last forever, we can improve the length and quality of our life with proper maintenance. Here’s 5 tips…

• 1:  Use or lose it. If you want to be able to walk up stairs when you are 70 – walk up stairs every day. Do you need to take the elevator for one flight of stairs? Can you walk to the store for that one item you need? Personally I like to walk the trail to the top of Multnomah Falls at least once per year to make sure I can still do it.
• 2: You are what you eat. (with the exception of nuts and vegetables) But seriously, even if you buy the cheapest fuel for your car, think of the food you eat as fuel for your body. It is an investment in your health. Are you eating quality unprocessed fresh foods? They contain the most nutritional benefit. I’m not saying you can’t have a cookie now and again, but cookies are not one of the basic food groups.
• 3: Round is a shape. Sure it is, it’s just not a healthy shape. If you can find the will power within yourself to become height-to-weight proportional you will add YEARS to your life. Not nursing home years, but active quality years.
• 4: Do you have the right stuff? You have to play the cards you were dealt with as far as DNA and genes. You may have a family history of certain disease or risk factors that others don’t. Identify these and take the proper supplements as needed: Grandma with osteoporosis? Then make sure you maintain good calcium levels. After age 30 joint cartilage does not regenerate. That’s why I supplement with glucosamine sulfate daily, so hopefully I will never need knee replacement surgery.
• 5: Smoking ain’t cool. Have you heard the latest news from the surgeon general: Cigarette smoking is hazardous to your health.  OK, that shouldn’t be news to anyone, yet 21% of the population still smokes. Is cancer on your bucketlist? Find a way to quit. I’ll help.

Never accept “old age” as a reason for your pain. At Springwater Chiropractic we will help you find out the real reason for your pain and work on a natural solution to get rid of that pain. Chiropractic works by restoring motion to your joints and removing restrictions from your nervous system so your body can heal itself as it was designed to.