If any of you are sports fans as I am, you couldn’t have gone very long without recently hearing about Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts quarterback, and the problems he has been having with his neck and throwing arm. CNN reported that Manning had been suffering from a pinched nerve which caused him neck pain and weakness in his arm and hand. Manning has had two previous surgeries that appeared to be unsuccessful for this same condition. ¹ This time, the surgeons hoped that his THIRD surgery will be the successful one. Manning had a procedure called a single level anterior fusion. That involves making an incision at the front of the neck. The disc is removed from the nerve and spinal cord. The surgeon then fills the open disc space with a bone graft. The graft acts as a bridge between the two vertebrae, creating a spinal fusion. Metal plates and screws are often used to hold the bone graft and vertebrae together.
“What could have caused this condition though,” is a question that Maximized Living doctors hear frequently. If anyone has ever seen a picture of Peyton Manning or has seen him on the sidelines of one of his games, one thing you will notice is that he has massive forward head posture which is a product of being hard on his body without taking care of his spine through corrective chiropractic care. A study done in 2004 shows that a slight increase in the kyphosis of the cervical spine (forward head posture) increases your chance of death by almost 2 times compared to those with a normal cervical curve and also increases physiological aging.² Forward head posture can be caused by various things, but is often secondary to traumatic events and poor posture leading to spinal misalignments.³
I cannot think of a more traumatic event than being tackled by a 300 lb. person every Sunday afternoon. Peyton Manning may go down as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, but his poor posture will possibly go down as the worst. Neck pain and numbness and weakness in the arm is a very common condition with people today, but you are hearing about this on the news because he a professional athlete. Don’t let the procedures he is choosing to undergo let you believe that this is the only way.
He has subluxation! The best possible thing to do with a spine with subluxation is to get corrective care chiropractic and maintain those adjustments to make sure that your spine gets in and stays in the position it needs to be. That is the precise reason why Maximized Living is the wellness providers for USA Wrestling, Weightlifting, Judo, Sitting Volleyball, the MLS champions Colorado Rapids, various MMA gyms, CrossFit gyms, colleges and universities, and High School teams around the country. We are helping them perform on the field and mat and achieve the highest level of health possible.
What trauma are you putting your spine through? Car accidents, text messaging, slouching for 8 or more hours in a work chair, staring at a computer screen for long periods of time, reading for multiple hours without taking a break – are your daily activities causing forward head posture increasing your probability of developing pinched and damaged nerves and even death?
Every week, tens of thousands of people walk into Maximized Living offices who were told they “need surgery.” In many cases, only a few adjustments will totally resolve the problem. In more severe cases, it takes longer, more intensive treatment – but no life-limiting, career ending surgery.
Who do you know that has this same problem that could avoid surgery and life altering procedures that could be saved by a Maximized Living doctor? Tell us about them so that they can get a nervous system evaluation to make sure they don’t end up like Peyton Manning, undergoing surgery after surgery after surgery and ending up with a life or career in jeopardy.