Back

It seems the older I get, the stiffer I feel, especially my back. What causes this and what can be done about it? Anything?

You ask a good question. Many studies have been done to find ways to increase spinal stiffness for patients with unstable spines. Not too many are directed at finding ways to loosen it up. It's thought that in the younger adult, stiffness comes from the muscles. That's why exercise programs focus on abdominal strength and spinal muscle stability.

Stiffness that occurs naturally with age is a different process. There are several factors responsible. As we age, the joints and discs start to deteriorate. Joint and disc spaces start to narrow. Bone spurs can form around the joint, limiting motion.

Another factor in the stiffness we experience as we get older is called fibrinogen. Fibrinogen comes from fibrin and is an important ingredient for blood clotting. Since your body never knows when you might get cut and bleed, there's always a certain amount of fibrin going around the body ready to be made into fibrinogen for blood clotting.

As we get older there are fewer scavenger cells around to eat up unused fibrinogen. Since fibrinogen acts like a glue to stop bleeding, it has the same effect in the tissues. Movement is the only known way to break the bond that fibrinogen makes between connective tissue. It's a Catch-22 situation as we get older and stiffer, we move less when we really need to move more.

The bottom-line is exercise and movement on a daily basis.

« Back