As I write, there is a storm brewing. Rain and cold can make things uncomfortably slippery and falls are common.  A bad fall can result in broken bones. For seniors, broken bones, especially hips can be traumatic emotionally but also physically.  The shock to their bodies can cause other, often fatal, medical issues.

It’s one of the reasons why building muscle and your fitness is even more important as you age. A broken bone, especially a leg, can also be deadly for those with inherited skeletal deformities.  The Ancient Egyptian Pharoah, King Tutankhamen had a whole host of skeletal deformities.

Recently, a large number of CT scans, genetic analysis, and over 2,000 digital scans were used to generate a computer model of King Tutankhamen for a ‘virtual autopsy’.  It was very clear from a digital reconstruction of the skull that the boy-king looked nothing like his death mask.

The Medical problems that plagued King Tutankhamen

• A cleft palate, and prominent overbite.
• Talipes a.k.a club foot.
• Kyphoscoliosis. While scoliosis bends the spine into a sideways ‘s’ or ‘c’ shape, Kyphoscoliosis creates a forward rounding of the back, which leads to a hunchback or a slouching posture.
• Kohler disease II, Some of the toe bones in King Tut’s club foot were dying from this degenerative disease.
• Hypophosphatasia, an inherited metabolic disorder that affects the musculo-skeletal system in many ways, giving Tut his twisted, malformed hips.
• Epilepsy and Malaria That’s a lot for one 18-year-old to deal with.  And it’s all down to his parents. Incest was common in King Tut’s family.  If, as in his case, incest is a many-generational practice, it will result in children being condemned to a life of suffering.

What does King Tut have to do with broken bones?

Walking was already a problem for the young king.  His tomb had 130 walking sticks inside it for use in the afterlife.  With his degenerative bone disorder, a simple fall would have resulted in a broken leg.  Which is what the researchers discovered he had.

His broken leg could have had complications, such as blood vessel damage resulting in life-threatening internal bleeding, nerve damage that even today with surgery might not have been fixable, a pulmonary embolism or clot in the lung which would cause a heart attack, and finally, if the skin had been broken and the muscles and bone exposed to air, he would have contracted a life-threatening infection.  The boy-king had malaria at the time he broke his broke his leg.  So he was already seriously infected.  He didn’t stand a chance.

Could Chiropractic care have eased some of King Tutankhamen’s pain and made his life a little easier?

If your spine is misaligned, nerves become trapped, muscles spasm, and you are in pain.  Pain can affect you emotionally and your functionally.  It’s the bully that keeps on punching.  Chronic pain leads to anxiety, frustration, anger, resentment, stress, and depression.

The disability itself causes a sometimes severe reduction in functionality anyway.  Add exhausting, chronic pain to the mix and your functionality will be reduced dramatically.  That’s not a great way to live.

How Can Chiropractic Care Help You If You Have A Spinal Deformity?

• While Chiropractic care can’t help with a cleft palate, an overbite, or malaria, the effects of a club foot, kyphoscoliosis, hypophosphatasia, and epilepsy can be eased.  No, Chiropractic care can’t cure epilepsy, but a misaligned spine can cause an epileptic seizure.  If spinal misalignment is caused by a seizure, Chiropractic care can help realign the spine.

• Once the Chiropractor has determined the cause of a client’s kyphoscoliosis, a treatment plan can be formulated to reduce inflammation, decrease muscle spasms, help maintain the health of your spine, optimize motion in the spine by improving muscular strength, reduce chronic pain, slow the process of degeneration in the middle back, and treat the intervertebral discs.
• With hypophosphatasia, the aim is to combine complementary treatments for the best overall result.  Stretching exercises alongside Chiropractic care can help clients manage their pain and improve their over-all well-being.
• Babies have very ‘soft’ bones, so Chiropractic care for talipes needs to be carried out by a practitioner who specialises in young children.

There is no need to live in pain if a visit to a Chiropractor could fix the problem. Call us today and make an appointment.

Yours in health,
Dr. Monica and Helen