Mr. Jones goes to see his doctor for knee pain.
After a thorough examination, his doctor concludes, “Mr. Jones, your knee pain is just normal wear and tear from aging.”
Mr. Jones thinks for a moment, then musing out loud says, “But Doc, my other knee is just as old and I don’t have any problem with that one?”
I’ve myself often wondered how it’s possible to have joint problems on only one side of your body when we’re dealing with the same area. It’s honestly not a question that’s easy to answer, and most likely, we will never know conclusively. However, what I do know is that some events occur from natural reasons, such as grey hair and wrinkles (sorry, folks), while others occur from having a condition that is untreated – or untreatable – over time resulting in a healthy joint becoming a problem.
Think about being in a car accident and injuring your neck. While it’s not a pleasant thought, most likely it will resolve over several days, or possibly several weeks. Eventually, it will probably feel fine except for perhaps some residual tightness.
However, If it’s not treated with spinal adjustments and corrective exercises, the injured joints will become fixated (stuck) and the condition will remain. You may not even notice the restriction after a few months, because it’s now begun to feel “normal.”
However, your body does not forget. Over decades of remaining dormant, your condition will show up on x-ray as arthritic changes of the neck bones growing together.
While this can be attributed to “normal” aging because it took so long to develop, a natural spine, without the trauma, would most likely not have displayed this same distortion and degeneration. In other words, while it was a normal progression, it wasn’t necessarily natural.
Normal is not natural. They are not the same.
The Bottom Line: Get treatment early, and never disregard your body’s pain signals. They are there for a reason.