Stiff neck, sore shoulders, tight hips — these are some of the daily aches that we tend to brush off when it comes to overall well-being. But according to experts, ignoring these seemingly minor discomforts can contribute to increased dysfunction in your body down the road.
“Many people tend to write off small aches or stiffness if there isn’t an episode — like a car accident or fall — linked to them,” says Mike Schneider, DC, chiropractor at LifeClinic in Chesterfield, Mo. “They grow used to the constant discomfort or lack of range of motion and mobility and get accustomed or numb to living with it after a certain amount of time.”
Although smaller aches may not alter your daily life or activities, that doesn’t mean they don’t warrant attention, Schneider notes — and getting out ahead of them can prevent cascading effects that can be more difficult to reverse.
“By pursuing preventive and proactive care — versus reactive, rehabilitative care — you can preserve a higher level of function and performance that helps you live a healthier, happier life,” he says.
What happens in the body when pain or stiffness is ignored over time?
Disregarding mild discomfort can lead to your body compensating mechanically; this can result in secondary dysfunction. “Your body does a really good job of making up for dysfunction, so you can move to do what you need to do,” Schneider says. “But this also puts your body in a position mechanically where you’re setting yourself up for injury, because you’re loading structures and tissues at a greater capacity than they’re prepared for.”
For example, if you have a stiff mid-back, you may notice your pectoral muscles on the front half of your body getting tight over time; this can lead to your shoulders rounding forward. This hunching forward can then tighten the suboccipital muscles on the neck near the base of the skull, resulting in neck tension.
“These are secondary compensation issues, which are going to lead to further dysfunction or even chronic dysfunction that can trickle into emotional or psychological impacts,” Schneider explains. “It’s a snowball effect.”
This can lead to body-wide issues that can affect other areas of your life, like exercise. “Say you go to your Alpha class, and your shoulders aren’t moving well. You’re then likely to perform various movements, like a hang-clean, with poor form,” he explains. “This can set you up for a potentially significant injury.”
What role does preventive care play in supporting overall health and performance?
Preventive care is all about being proactive — and you don’t necessarily need to feel significant pain to be spurred into pursuing professional attention. “Just because you didn’t experience an accident or injury doesn’t mean you’re functioning perfectly,” Schneider says. “Pain isn’t always present when dysfunction is present. That’s the preventive-care side of things: You may not have significant pain now, but it could be coming down the road.”
By prioritizing preventive care, you can keep doing what you’re doing — but better. “By getting ahead of smaller aches early and sustaining some degree of regular care, it’s going to allow you to maintain proper mechanics throughout your day,” notes Schneider. “You’re going to live a life with less pain and discomfort, which means you’ll get more enjoyment out of the things you want to do. Aside from the physical advantages, that’s huge for the psychological and emotional components of health.”
How does chiropractic care fit into the preventive care process?
LifeClinic’s model is set up for preventive and proactive care (LifeClinics are located within many Life Time athletic country clubs). “We have a zero barrier to entry — that first visit and exam are complimentary, and it only costs 30 minutes of your time,” says Schneider.
Goal-setting is the initial priority of the first visit, so a practitioner can define what you want to accomplish from any ongoing care. “We want to figure out what’s driving a patient to seek care, like a specific ache or soreness, along with what’s important to them.”
From there, the appointment moves on to a movement-based assessment. “We’ll work to get a holistic understanding of the root cause of any dysfunction,” says Schneider. “If you come in with a stiff neck, your chiropractor is going to examine your body beyond just that area. Part of our assessment protocol is evaluating everything — the whole spine and the whole body.”
Once the root cause has been identified, the chiropractor crafts a solution based in soft-tissue work, spinal adjustments, and rehab exercises to address that dysfunction and restore you to pain- or ache-free status. “We also are going to give you exercises to do on your own time, so you’re equipped to recover and can continue to optimize through a degree of maintenance care,” he says. (Learn more: “Why LifeClinic?”)
The main takeaway is to not ignore what your body is trying to tell you. “Everyone has their own thresholds when it comes to pain, but if something doesn’t feel right, then something is probably not right,” Schneider says. “Your body doesn’t generally lie to you — and it’s often better, easier, and cheaper to get it figured out in the beginning versus putting it off and delaying it.”
