Chew on this

“All I did was bend over to pick up a sock!” Or “all I did was turn my head to look at something.” I’ve heard these and experienced them myself way too many times. So what happened and how does something so simple cause injury? 

Simplifying things, the spine is comprised of 26 vertebrae stacked on top of each other extending from our tailbone to the base of our skull. There are two rows of joints running up the left side and the right of our spine that connect one vertebra to the adjacent ones above and below. Surrounding each of these joints are muscles, tendons and ligaments that hold us together and allow us to move in all the ways that we do. During these movements, the joints in our spine are constantly opening and closing as we bend and twist. And nearly always things work fine. But what happens when they don’t? 

Let’s look at eating, more specifically chewing to explain this. When we put food in our mouth we chew it 2-3 dozen times before swallowing. Breaking that process down, we bite down for the first chew, open our teeth slightly, push the food around with our tongue and cheeks to line it up with the closing teeth to further grind it up. We repeat this numerous times for each bite without giving it any thought. But, when the timing of teeth, tongue and/or cheek gets a fraction of a second off, the closing teeth bite into our tongue or cheek. Ouch! 

Same thing happens in the spine. All the things that we take for granted with everyday movement involve spinal joints closing and surrounding tissues getting out of the way. That’s what happens with simple tasks that result in injury. Something that didn’t get out of way of a closing joint got pinched. That can be something as simple as picking some up from the floor, turning your head, reaching upward, yawning and stretching. 

David Weaver, D.C.