Arthritis affects one in every three Americans. So chances are you or someone you know has arthritis.

Arthritis is a condition characterized by an inflammation of the joints. It causes pain, stiffness and sometimes swelling in or around joints. This can make it hard to do the movements you rely on every day for work or to take care of your family. But you can take steps now to avoid arthritis, reduce pain and keep moving.

How does it begin?

Normal curves and proper disc spacing allow normal function of the spine and nervous system.

Degeneration (arthritis) is related to the same process the body uses to mend a broken bone. The body attempts to fuse the adjacent spinal bones together.

Like the mineral deposits in a cave, if given enough time, adjacent spinal bones can fuse together.

• Regardless of age, when spinal damage goes uncorrected, the body deposits calcium on the surface of adjacent bones that are not moving properly.
• If neglected long enough, this splinting effect can result in complete fusion. This worsening process is called Spinal Decay and can occur throughout the spine.
• Spinal mobilization can help prevent Spinal Decay.

• Loss of normal curves and nervous system dysfunction result from uncorrected spinal trauma.
• This is usually seen as misalignment and malfunction of the spine. Normal spinal motion, curves, and disc spacing are altered. Because the body is so adaptable, this early phase can exist without warning of pain or other symptoms. If left uncorrected, the degeneration continues.

• Bone spurs and abnormal bony growths distort the shape and function of the vertebra.
• Recognized on X-ray views of the spine by visible bone spurs and rough edges of the vertebrae. Soft tissues, such as discs and ligaments degenerate from the lack of normal joint movement. Again, pain or other symptoms may or may not be present.

• After years of neglect, the improperly functioning spinal joints often fuse together.
• A lifetime of neglect may cause the eventual fusion of the malfunctioning joints. Atrophy, permanent nerve damage, and soft tissue degeneration are common.