In a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society of 5,589 U.S. adults aged 65 years and older, persistent pain was common and was linked to meaningful declines in physical function and well-being over seven years.

Scientists have been studying the effectiveness of chiropractic care for various types of pain for many years. The most promising research is in the area of low back pain. The research has shown spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) is as effective as other common therapies, like exercise therapy, standard medical care, or physiotherapy.

First, be aware of your posture throughout the day and make an effort to stand and sit up straight. Secondly, avoid sitting for long periods of time and take breaks often to move around. Finally, strengthening your core muscles will also help to improve your posture by providing support for your spine.

For people challenged with chronic back pain, a new experimental treatment that focuses on retraining how the back and the brain communicate offers a clinically meaningful effect on pain intensity and a clinically meaningful effect on disability, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. People were happier, they reported their backs felt better and their quality of life was better. It also looks like these effects were sustained over the long term; Twice as many people were completely recovered.

You don’t have to be an ironworker or a lumberjack to be at risk for back injury on your job. Every occupation, however physically undemanding it seems, carries the potential for back injury. Even office work can pose problems. A physically intense job might put a person at greater risk for a serious accident, but the sedentary practice of sitting at a desk all day brings its own set of physical concerns.

We can’t give you advice on how to navigate a TSA security line, other than to say take a deep breath and be patient. But the American Chiropractic Association has pointed out that a long flight can play havoc with tightened muscles and restricted blood flow. When flying, here are some things to remember.

Your feet are the foundation on which your body stands and functions. Chiropractors recognize that one of the keys to spinal health, and therefore the maintenance of overall health, is taking good care of the feet. A foot injury can lead, for instance, to limping. And when the body starts compensating for a limp or for any joint that can’t pull its weight, the over-stressed parts will start to ache. Most likely the other leg or hip will start to ache. Next may come lower back pain.

The spine is made up of distinct areas: the cervical spine, which is essentially the neck; the thoracic spine, in the mid-back; the lumbar spine, the lower back; and the sacral spine, in the pelvis. The lumbar vertebrae—the individual bones that make up the lumbar section of the spinal column—are described as L1 through L5. If one or more of those vertebrae are out of line—what chiropractors call a ‘subluxation’—here are some problems that may ensue:

Most people’s approach to health care is a preventive one. They visit their medical doctor regularly to check for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other issues. They see the dentist regularly to prevent development of cavities, gum disease and other problems with the mouth. The idea is to not wait until a problem becomes evident.

It used to be thought that the pain, stiffness and diminished function of joints due to arthritis were just an unavoidable part of the aging process. Advice on the topic was for some time limited to, “slow down.” We know now, though, that exercise is essential to managing the disease. Though chiropractors may be best known for working on the spine, particularly keeping its vertebrae, or individual bones, in line, they are trained in the operation of all the body’s joints and in the various therapies available to keep those joints working smoothly.

Fibromyalgia is a condition in which, essentially, a person “hurts all over.” Difficult to diagnose, fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread pain in muscles, ligaments and tendons and creates tender spots all over the body. In some cases, symptoms have begun to appear after a physically traumatic event, like a fall or car accident; after surgery or an infection; or in the aftermath of severe psychological stress. In other cases, though, symptoms may just build gradually. For some reason, women are more likely to develop fibromyalgia than are men.

Experts estimate that as many as 80 percent of Americans will experience back pain at some point in their lives. The back is a complicated weave of nerves, muscles, joints and ligaments. There are plenty of opportunities for something to go wrong. A twinge or minor pain in the back may come and go. But what the average person would call “pain” in the back is not likely to go away on its own. Low back pain, some experts say, is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Back pain often is the result of mechanical problems with the back.

Exercise, of course, is good for you. But any form of exercise also can expose you to the risk of injury. Riding a bicycle is a great form of exercise, but it, too, has its risks. A relatively common injury among cyclists is an irritation and inflammation of the ulnar nerve, which runs from the armpit through the inside of the elbow and into the hand and forearm.

As with any specialized area, whether it’s a sport or a health care field like chiropractic, there is a lexicon that develops. When you’re visiting your chiropractor, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask about any words or phrases you hear with which you are not familiar. Here are some terms you might hear:

The shoulder is the third most commonly treated part of the body for chiropractors (after the lower back and the neck). As with any part of the body, the shoulder can become painful as a result of wear and tear over time, or as the result of a trauma, like a car accident or a fall. Shoulder pain often begins in the cervical spine, the upper portion of the spine. The nerves that control the hands, arms and shoulders pass through that section of the spine.

Nearly 40% of older adults currently use at least one integrative medicine strategy to try to ease symptoms of a physical or mental health issue, or to help them relax, a new poll finds.

Chiropractors are licensed professionals with doctorate degrees who use a hands-on approach to ease pain and inflammation by manipulating parts of your body.

The philosophy behind chiropractic care is that your body can heal itself with interventions performed by a chiropractor.

Chiropractic care, like physical therapy, doesn’t involve taking medications or undergoing surgery. You may want to try chiropractic care before undergoing more invasive treatments.

Unfortunately, many of the medications that are prescribed for pain management can cause further damage to the body and become addictive if misused. Popular medications like oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, and more can, in turn, cause a user dependence and eventual tolerance to the drug — meaning chronic pain is still present. A recent review study has found the following:

Spine-related pain is increasingly common in older adults. while medications play an important role in pain management, their use has limitations in geriatric patients due to reduced liver and kidney function, comorbid medical problems and polypharmacy (the simultaneous use of multiple drugs to treat medical conditions).

Examining the spines of Neanderthals, an extinct human relative, may explain back-related ailments experienced by humans today, a team of anthropologists has concluded in a new comparative study.

Neanderthals have long been thought to have a different posture than modern humans. A good part of this perspective derives from the wedging of Neanderthals’ lumbar, or lower, vertebrae — their spines in this region curve less than those of modern humans studied in the U.S. or Europe.

A new study suggests that a combination of physiotherapy alongside psychological interventions can be effective for improving physical function and pain intensity — findings that can help improve the clarity of guideline recommendations to better support patients and clinicians in treatment decision making.

Adults with chronic low back pain (lasting for more than 12 weeks) not only experience physical disability but can also suffer psychological distress in the form of anxiety, depression and fear avoidance (avoiding movement for fear of pain).