WHAT CHRONIC PAIN REALLY STEALS
Eleanor isn't unique. I have 200+ patients just like her in my practice.
Here's what I see chronic neck and shoulder pain steal from people over 65:
Independence: Margaret, 68, had to move in with her daughter because she couldn't turn her head to drive safely. "I raised four kids alone. Now I can't even go to the grocery store by myself."
Dignity: Harold, 74, stopped going to church after 60 years. "People watch me grimace and struggle to stand. I look like a feeble old man. That's not who I am inside."
Connection with loved ones: Patricia, 69, won't hold her infant grandson. "What if my neck spasms while I'm holding him? What if I drop him? So I just... watch from the couch."
Sleep: Robert, 72, sleeps in a recliner because lying down hurts too much. His wife of 48 years sleeps alone in their bedroom. Every night. "We haven't slept in the same bed in 14 months."
Life's meaning: Dorothy, 70, can't tend her garden of 40 years. William, 73, abandoned his woodworking shop. Elizabeth, 67, can't get down on the floor to play with grandchildren.
One patient told me: "I feel like I'm serving a life sentence, and the only crime I committed was getting old."
The medical system I've been part of for 35 years is great at diagnosing. But most treatments don't address the real problem.
The real problem: After 65, your neck muscles have fought gravity for seven decades. They're exhausted. Locked in protective spasm so long, they've forgotten how to relax.
Every night, instead of healing, those tight muscles pull your spine further out of alignment. Discs compress more. Nerves pinch tighter.
You spend thousands treating symptoms while the root cause gets worse every night.