Dr Erin: What is aging?
As the American population ages, we see more articles and advertisements touting “anti-aging” serums, breakthrough products to help us grow hair and injections to plump out wrinkles. We all know that we don’t want to look “old,” but has anyone really thought about the process of aging and what it really is?
Age is not a number, its the amount of degeneration (wear and tear) on your body at a cellular level. The more times a skin cell is exposed to UV light from the sun, the more damage it receives. If that happens long enough, the skin cell might start forming a freckle, a mole, start wrinkling or even change into a cancerous cell. A 40 year old who is a sun goddess will have more “aged” skin than a 40 year old computer nerd who never sees day light.
The same is true for your muscles and joints. Arthritis, scar tissue and stiffness are by-products of wear and tear on these structures over time. Children and teens have less of this degeneration than adults. You can control the amount of degeneration in your muscles and joints by staying flexible, keeping your spine moving and your muscles in proper balance. That’s why we see 35 year old patients who are in the same state of degeneration as a 70 year old patient. The 35 year old is building up degeneration faster than their peers and the 70 year old did a great job maintaining their body.
So the next time you “feel old” and your joints need some oil, give us a call and we’ll make sure that you are doing everything that you can do to avoid the dreaded “aging.”