HOUSTON – For Spine Health Awareness Month we invited Dr. Ankur Khosla from AK Pain & Spine Center to the Houston Life studio to talk about turning off pain and taking care of our spines in the long run.
As we age, so does our spine. “The discs of our spine are made up of ligaments and water content. We start to lose that water content after age 40,” said Dr. Khosla. Because of this, it is important to start thinking about was to help support our spines and maintain spine health.
“What we can do to maintain spine health as we age, is to make sure we’re maintaining good core muscle strength. And that’s not just our abs, but it’s also the muscles in the back and then maintaining flexibility so that the discs and the nerves and the joints all have good gliding potential and not get stuck and cause pain,” said Dr. Khosla.
While stretching and exercises like yoga are beneficial. Dr. Khosla said even something as simple as staying active is really important for spine health. ”You want to make sure that you’re not just staying stagnant.” When you are at home watching the television, Dr. Khosla suggests that it is a “...good time to get on the floor, use that opportunity to twist the spine, stretch it out, and yes. Yoga, Pilates, all those exercises are wonderful for maintaining that flexibility and core muscle strengthening.”
Back pain and spine pain is one of the most common reasons people visit their primary care doctor, a chiropractor, or a physical therapist. If you have pain and you find that popping pain medication or trying heat, ice , or anti-inflammatories is “...not enough to take care of that pain within the first week or two, it’s always a great idea to come in and get an assessment so that you can actually lift the hood, see what’s going on underneath in that engine, and figure out what those pain points are so that you can effectively turn them off and prevent them from coming back again’” explained Dr. Khosla.
The team at AK Paine & Spine know what it is to suffer with chronic pain and because of this they make sure they are always able to see people quickly. They have same and next day appointments available and are offering the first 25 Houston Life viewers who call in, a free consultation. The number is 281.896.0013. They have locations across Houston, including the Woodlands. You can find out more online at akpainandspine.com.