These days people who are in their fifties and sixties are not considered old, but still in middle age. 

Some of the specific problems associated with getting older are:-
Osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, Arthritis, Malnutrition, Spinal Degeneration which contributes to Loss of height.

The majority of health problems affecting people over 50 are those to do with degeneration of one or more of their body systems.  These are the conditions that result from a life time of wear and tear (of course some bodies are more worn and torn than others!)

Healthy Bones

With osteoporosis (brittle bones)  prevention is better than cure, caring for your bones while you are young helps avoid osteoporosis in your later years. 

It's not just women who  need to care for their bones, studies  show that while one in two teenage girls are at risk of developing osteoporosis, one in three boys are also at risk.

Follow these tips for better bones:

Alzheimer's

Eating fruit and vegetables may help prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to research in Switzerland.  Australians should increase their anti-oxidant intake, especially vitamin C and beta-carotene to protect their memory as they age, says Prof. Hannes Staehelin, the head of the Geriatric University Clinic in Basel.  His research has revealed the link between anti-oxidant vitamins and better memory performance.
"Anti-oxidants are ideally obtained from natural dietary sources such as fruit and vegetables," he said. "However, foods fortified with vitamins or supplements may be necessary".

Osteopathy

Many problems of ageing or the elderly are put down to Osteoarthritis.
Often the elderly put  up with suffering  unnecessarily because they feel their symptoms cannot be helped.
Osteoarthritic is a wear and tear process of the joints.  Similar to a car tyre wearing out prematurely when out of balance, human joints also wear prematurely when they are out of balance or alignment.
Osteopaths can greatly reduce or prevent degenerative arthritic changes by restoring normal mobility and alignment in the affected joint structures utilising a wide range of gentle techniques.

Chiropractic

Wear and tear of degeneration is a natural process that affects all of us.  Not only do wrinkles develop as skin ages, but so to do changes in our spine and other joints of the body.
Importantly, we do not want a particular area of our spine, hips or knees to age at a faster rate that the rest of our body.
Chiropractic aims to detect and correct area of the spine that are not functioning or are misaligned.  This in turn will reduce that fast track process of degeneration that occurs when there is a problem.

Case History.

A 65 year old male presented with right hip and lower back pain.  The pain in the hip was stopping him from being able to bend forward while sitting to do up his shoelaces. 
A structural assessment revealed a lowered pelvis on the left side and a short leg on the right. 
X-ray examination and comparison with films 10 years previously showed accelerated degeneration of the right hip when compared to the left.

A series of chiropractic treatments commenced and the pelvic structure stabilised. 
Not only was the patient able to do up his shoelaces, but we had taken away the stresses on his body that were accelerating the degeneration process.

Acupuncture & Massage

As time marches on, we all begin to notice that the wiser we become the more our bodies show the signs of wear and tear. 

For some this will mean lower back pain, for others keeping to their ideal weight becomes more difficult, bladder weakness, insomnia, arthritis, chronic tiredness and depression are just a few of the many things that can appear and worsen with ageing.

Fortunately these are all things that acupuncture can give some lasting relief to.  For centuries ailments associated with ageing have been effectively dealt with by acupuncture.

Many people who have experienced the positive changes that acupuncture has brought them , start to use it as a regular form of health maintenance, say every 6 weeks in order to stay healthy.  One does not have to actually wait to get sick before they decide to make themselves feel better. 

Whether we like it or not it becomes an increasingly clear reality that the older we get the more we need to regularly attend to small niggling problems before they get out of hand.  All acupuncture given in my clinic includes some form of massage which further enhances results and relaxes the body.

So if you feel old age approaching faster than you want it to, or if you have a friend or relative who might not see their own light burning more dimly, acupuncture may be the answer!  What are you waiting for?

Naturopathy

Health problems such as arthritis, osteoporosis, heart disease or mature-onset diabetes can all be assisted by Naturopathic treatment. 

Diet changes, Herbal medicines and nutrient supplements have been shown to aid symptom reduction in a number of chronic diseases.

Case History