Men - Don’t turn into a tree!
I often joke with my patients that men turn into trees as they get older, with their spines gradually becoming more stiff until they begin to move like Treebeard from Lord of the Rings. It turns out that there is some truth to this tendency for men to stiffen up with age more than women.
It’s been shown that older men suffer more with the following;
intervertebral disc degeneration
arthritis of their spinal (facet) joints
bone spurs (osteophytes)
spinal canal narrowing (stenosis) due to ligament ossification,
spinal misalignment and scoliosis
On the plus side, they are less prone to osteoporosis (thinning bones) than women.
So when do these changes start?
Although certain back tissues like the intervertebral discs begin degrading in our 30s, it turns out that a key age when spinal stiffness and degenerative changes accelerate in men is typically around age 50. This is thought due to cumulative mechanical stress, disc dehydration, facet joint and ligament degeneration, and a drop in their testosterone levels.
Studies have shown that older men have less flexibility in their lower backs, and also poorer hip flexibility than women. Another study showed that men’s lower back muscles (lumbar erector spinae) were much stiffer than those in women. These muscles very much control how your back feels and moves, and are often intensively worked on by osteopaths.
What can you do to avoid becoming a tree?
The good news is that a recent study showed that that even a modest stretching program taking only 3 minutes a day can improve your flexibility regardless of your age. The program uses the following 4 stretches, which only need to be done 5 days a week;
Stretch 1 - Supine Knee-to-Chest Stretch
Lie on back, pull one knee toward chest, hold 30 seconds, switch legs.
Stretch 2- Spinal Twist Stretch
Lie on your back, arms out to T, drop knees to one side, hold 30s; repeat other side
Stretch 2 - Cobra (Prone Spinal Extension)
Lie prone, hands under shoulders, gently extend upper body, hold 30s.
Stretch 4 - Child’s Pose Forward Bend
Kneel, sit back on heels, extend arms forward while bending spine, hold 30s.
As I’ve noticed that older guys also tend to get quite stiff hips, I would push the boat out and add a hip stretch to your routine, which would still leave it under 5 minutes total.
Stretch 5 - Hip Stretches
Please as ever, don’t do these exercises if they are painful, and get some professional advice if you have back pain and you don’t know what you are dealing with. If you are an older man and you are worried about turning into a tree, try these stretches or come and see me at Osteo Studio so that I can improve your spinal flexibility.
Cliff Russell, Registered Osteopath
Osteo Studio
