Do you find it hard to get out of a position you’ve been in for a while – say sitting on the floor cross-legged – or maybe even just getting out of bed in the morning? As we age our body stops producing elastin fibers and we find ourselves less flexible and a bit stiffer than we used to be. Drs. George and Stefanie Olar at 360 Chiropractic in Lacey understand the importance of looking at how your whole body is doing – not just your bones – to keep you as healthy and pain-free as possible. Being aware of elastin fibers is part of that whole-body care.
What Are Elastin Fibers?
Simply put, elastin fibers allow your body to stretch and then shrink back to its original form. It’s what gives gymnasts the ability to do what they do. To see elastin in action, just pinch the skin at the back of your hand with your thumb and forefinger for two seconds. If you are young, the skin will snap right back. If you are middle age, it may take a bit longer. For some seniors, it may not snap back at all. This is your elastin fiber at work – or lack thereof.
According to Douglas Mulhall, a popular science author, journalist, researcher and co-founder of a biotech company that has been working on the technology to replace elastin fiber in older individuals, elastin fibers are the toughest and most resilient substance in our body. You have elastin fibers throughout your entire body: in the skin, organs and blood vessels. It affects everything your body does – like pumping blood throughout your body and keeping you breathing – and everything you do, from getting up in the morning and going to the bathroom, to being able to run a marathon or touch your toes.
Unfortunately, our bodies stop producing elastin around age 30 and the elastin we have starts to degrade. According to Mulhall, when elastin degrades, it causes chronic inflammation, which causes all kinds of issues in our bodies, including vascular dementia where the arteries in the brain harden.
Heard of collagen? It’s another thing your body stops producing around age 30 and it’s also important. While collagen provides structural support, the elastin fibers are a stretchy protein that helps your tissues stretch without damage. You need both in order to have a properly functioning body.
How to Restore Elastin Fibers
“Restoring the elastin in our connective tissues (tendons/ligaments), arteries, is huge,” says Dr. George. “If we can restore these tissues, reverse it, and prevent it, imagine the impact on longevity. It will improve our quality of life.”
Douglas Mulhall’s company is working on a therapy to restore damaged elastin. You can learn more about it in his book, “Discovering the Nature of Longevity” or by visiting his website. His product, Elastrin, is a therapy already in clinical trials that targets damaged elastin in arteries for people with high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Polyphenols are organic compounds found in plants – and natural supplements – that are powerful antioxidants, helping reduce the risk of heart disease, weight management, lowering blood sugar levels, and a lot of other good things. But, even better, they may increase elastin in the skin!
“Emotional stress is another factor we can try to control. Chronic stress leads to our body attacking itself, including the elastin,” Dr. George says.
Chiropractic Care in Lacey Helps Body Repair
You might be wondering how a chiropractic adjustment could help you with your elastin problem….well it can! Remember the body works together. If your body is out of alignment, it’s putting extra stress on your muscles and tissues…and that hard-working collagen and elastin!
“Chiropractic care is great for decreasing inflammation in the body and helps improve range of motion, allowing muscles to relax after they have stiffened up from stress and brings down pain,” Dr. George says.
Day-to-day life is hard on our bodies. Maybe you had a sports injury, car accident or simply over-reached while cleaning out the garage or fell getting out of the shower. All of these can cause joints in the spine to get stuck and/or decrease range in motion. When this happens, your muscles stiffen up – think of it like a cast on a broken arm – so that you won’t injury yourself further. But those stiffened muscles are restricting movement and affecting your elastin and collagen. “Chiropractic adjustments help restore movement and communication throughout our body, decreasing inflammation, as well as preventing those elastin fibers from degrading more,” shares Dr. George.
At 360 Chiropractic in Lacey, whole-body care is important. It’s why they offer a range of services that work together to help get your body working at its best capacity. “Cold laser therapy is our regenerative therapy that speeds up our body’s ability to heal and stabilize,” adds Dr. George. They also have massage therapy, which helps loosen those tense muscles and relieve inflammation even more.
“And don’t forget to avoid inflammatory foods, take good supplements and get in those polyphenols!” finishes Dr. George.
To learn more about their whole-body care offerings, visit the 360 Chiropractic website.
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