Health effects people on a communal level. Besides a right to privacy, there’s really no such thing as health on an individual level. When a person makes a bad health choice, that choice impacts the whole of society. Bad, recurring decisions in regards to diet, exercise, and activities like drinking alcohol reflect the high costs of insurance and medical care. These decisions affect work productivity and relationships. Society pays the medical bills of people who make these recurring bad decisions and cannot afford insurance. Society also bears the burden of broken families sullied by pain meds and depression related to disease. These costs don’t incur all at once, but over time, they wear away at the very core of the nation’s mindset and financial strength.
And that brings us to the very core of our problem: the spine. Both as a country and as individuals, our spine is rotting, unable to support our enormous physics, our disastrous choices, and our financial burdens.
Examining the Core of the Problem
Few people receive regular spinal care. Beyond childhood examinations for scoliosis, spinal care is not advocated in the same way as regular eye care, dental care, or ob/gyn care. Spinal care only occurs when there’s already a problem. This is a shame as well as a financial mistake.
Many spine issues derive from a sedentary lifestyle. A lack of movement and too much food put pressure on the spine as well as all of the central nervous system. But because no one pays attention to the spine, the problem remains unchecked for years. People notice weight gain, they notice bad skin, they notice fatigue. These things are apparent in self-assessments as well as from the assessments of others.
The Cost of Poor Spinal Care
However, spinal health remains largely ignored until something goes really wrong. When something goes wrong with the spine, the connecting nerves present with unimaginable pain, hindering movement and causing depression. This pain negatively impacts the work force and raises health care costs. It may even result in divorce. Painful backs and chronic pain in general costs America a lot of money. According to a 2011 study, pain is the silent spender of the health care system, totaling between $261 to $300 billion dollars annually.
The key to saving our money and improving our health centers around the very center of our being. The spine connects our bodies and our country. It needs to be examined regularly.
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