Do you remember what your most recent SHA (spinal health assessment) score is?
What do you want your SHA score to be?
A score of 90 or above means that your spinal health is good. It means that you are in homeostasis and you are able to adapt to the stressors you place your nerve system under. If your score is less than 90 then you are moving in the wrong direction and cannot adapt as well as you should. Here’s an example:
I have a patient whose spouse spent some time in the ER last week for back pain due to a disk herniation. She’s about 30 years old and has never been under chiropractic care or been taught how to maintain a healthy spine. About 2 years ago she fell and hurt her back and that’s when she was diagnosed with a disk herniation. However, the disk herniation didn’t “happen” just 2 years ago.
Years and decades of improper moving of the joints leads to the thinning and weakness of the disk spaces. Over time it gets progressively worse. If it has not been maintained properly, the disk material is simply not strong enough to withstand the force of a big fall and further rupture occurs in the disk and symptoms appear. Once the degeneration has begun then you are prone to injury the rest of your life.
Wouldn’t it be better if the spine were in a healthy condition in order to withstand the inevitable fall that we may have?
But how do you know if your spine is healthy enough so that when you have a fall, you will not aggravate a herniated disk or cause one? Your Spinal Health Assessment will tell you what you need to know.
Having a score of 90 or above is not just so the overachiever in you can feel good about the competition. It means that the condition of your spine is in a place that will help you withstand some of the negative stressors you will place on it.
Your SHA is not about the score. It’s about what the score means.