The growing middle-aged population brings increased marketing opportunities

Picture a typical 91-year-old man. What does he look like? How active is he? Do you imagine this man getting up every morning at 5 am to lift weights and swim for 2 hours? Do you picture him with a chest measurement that is bigger than that of his waist? That’s probably not what you imagined, but it’s a perfect description of Jack LaLanne at age 91.

In a recent interview, LaLanne said, “The only way you hurt your body is by not using it. That’s the killer: inactivity. Sitting around on your big, fat butt and thinking about the good old days. You’ve got to work at living. Take care of the most important thing in your life—your body.”¹

Clearly, LaLanne is not your typical senior citizen. But why have we come to accept his exact opposite as the norm? Why do we believe that getting older means becoming inactive and feeble? Why do we accept diseases of “old age” when most of them could be prevented?

Aging is unavoidable, and our country as a whole is getting older as more and more Baby Boomers turn 50. How can chiropractors reach out to the middle-aged population and tell them how chiropractic care can help them continue to lead active, healthy lives as they get older? How can we create a nation of older people like Jack LaLanne?

Marketing to Middle-Aged
The middle-aged are an ideal target for your marketing efforts. They are old enough to be concerned about their health and the affects of aging, and they are typically young enough not to be suffering from diseases related to inactivity. The middle-aged are also ideal in terms of generating referrals, because they may have children and elderly parents who could benefit from chiropractic care. For preventive and wellness care, it is important for people to start young. But at the same time, you’re never too old to benefit from a healthier lifestyle.

When thinking about marketing to a specific segment of the population, you need to understand their needs. What does the middle-aged population really want? The answer may be several different things. Some people may be looking to take up a new activity, like golf or tennis, and other people may want to resume an activity from their past, such as running or hiking. Your patient’s decision to make changes to his or her lifestyle may stem from a longing to get back in shape or simply to enjoy doing activities with their children or grandchildren. It’s important for you to talk to your patients about their individual motivations for seeking care.

Patient education is the key to helping middle-aged patients understand why they need to see a chiropractor. Most people don’t realize that the human body is an architectural structure just like any building, and structure dictates function. They don’t understand that structural imbalances such as pronation and forward head carriage can have a serious impact on their health. Postural imbalances put the body in compromised structural positions that make your patients more susceptible to injury and increase their risk of degenerative changes. Pronation can cause degenerative changes throughout the body, and forward head carriage can lead to degenerative changes that can eventually affect the nervous system at the level of the spinal nerves and even the spinal cord.

Explain to your patients that the best way for them to stay healthy as they age is a combination of adjustments, support for the adjustment (which may include products such as cervical-support pillows and custom-made orthotics), and rehabilitative exercise. Adjustments free up restricted joints and correct misalignments. Custom-made orthotics support the feet, which are the foundation of the body, and provide a symmetrical base upon which proper posture can be built. Cervical-support pillows keep the spine supported in its normal lordotic curve while your patient is asleep, and can help adjustments hold longer. Of course, your program of care may differ depending on your preferences and your patient’s unique needs and goals.

If you educate your middle-aged patients about how chiropractic care can enhance athletic performance, help prevent injuries, limit degenerative changes, and provide an overall healthier lifestyle, they will be more motivated to stick with their program. They will also be more likely to recommend chiropractic care to others.

The Real Fountain of Youth
Many of the diseases and physical problems we associate with aging can be at least partially prevented (and often reversed) by exercise. Osteoporosis, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and adult-onset diabetes can all be improved or prevented by exercise. When exercise is combined with regular chiropractic care and good nutrition, you have a real fountain of youth that can help your patients stay healthy and feel younger as they age.

Lack of exercise is the real reason that most people gradually lose strength and muscle mass and increase their body fat as they age. Surveys reveal that 70% or more of older adults do not exercise regularly.² Research has found that even high-intensity training of men and women in their 90s is safe and can lead to significant gains in muscle strength and functional mobility.³ Your patients are never too old or out of shape to benefit from an exercise routine, no matter what its intensity level.

When recommending an exercise program to your patients, balance and variation are crucial. Stretching can help maintain the flexibility of the muscles, and specific chiropractic adjustments can maintain the flexibility and mobility of the joints. Inactive muscles atrophy at an alarming rate, and this leads to weaknesses that can result in injuries. Cardiovascular exercise has a pronounced positive impact on health, boosting metabolism and preventing diseases. Walking with light weights combines the benefits of strength training and cardiovascular exercise.

Exercise programs can benefit patients of all ages, but they are especially important for middle-aged patients who want to stay healthy and active as they get older.

Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, and it affects people of all ages and backgrounds. An estimated 70% to 90% of people older than age 75 are affected by osteoarthritis.⁴

The clinical symptoms of osteoarthritis include use-related joint pain, stiffness of joints after inactivity, restricted range of motion, and joint crepitus. Middle-aged Baby Boomers are coming into the peak years for the development of arthritic conditions, and they will most likely account for a great increase in cases of osteoarthritis over the next few decades.

It’s a commonly held belief that degenerative changes and osteoarthritis are natural consequences of aging, but this is simply not true. The amount of degenerative changes can be significantly limited by maintaining symmetrical posture, joint mobility, and muscle tone. Osteoarthritis results from an ongoing process of wear and tear over a lifetime and is not an inevitable consequence of aging.⁵ Educating your patients about the steps that they can take to minimize their risk of developing osteoarthritis is one way to help them realize how beneficial chiropractic care can be.

Chiropractic care improves biomechanical function by restoring normal motion to the spine, relaxing tight muscles, improving joint coordination, and inhibiting pain.⁶ Chiropractic can improve joint function and reduce symptoms in patients who already have osteoarthritis, and reduce the wear and tear leading to osteoarthritis.

Patients at risk for osteoarthritis can also benefit from custom-made orthotics that give them a solid symmetrical foundation. When people have structural faults in their feet, it translates into biomechanical dysfunction in the joints above—extending as far up as the cervical spine. Research has shown that custom-made, flexible orthotics improve shock absorption; reduce stress on the knee joint7; and improve the Q angle, which puts less stress on the hip.⁸

It is important for you to educate your middle-aged patients about the ways that chiropractic can help them reduce their risk of developing painful and disabling osteoarthritis. Chiropractic care can offer them a preventive solution to a disease that otherwise can rob them of their independence and vitality.

We have an obligation to educate our patients about the benefits of chiropractic. When your middle-aged patients see results and understand how chiropractic can keep them feeling young and healthy, they will be more likely to seek your care and to refer their family and friends. No matter how old you are, you’ve only got one body—and it’s never too late to start taking care of it. Jack LaLanne is living proof that getting older doesn’t have to mean becoming unhealthy. Let’s show our patients of all ages how chiropractic can help them achieve better health. CP

Mark N. Charrette, DC, is a 1980 summa cum laude graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic. He has lectured extensively on spinal and extremity adjusting throughout the United States, Europe, the Far East, and Australia. Charrette received a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University (summa cum laude) in 1976, where he was an NCAA All-American in 1974.

References
1. Fitness guru Jack LaLanne still going strong at 89. Available at: http://www.cnn.com/2004/­HEALTH/diet.fitness/01/19/jack.lalanne.ap/ Accessed March 23, 2006.

2. Clark DO. Racial and educational differences in physical activity among older adults. Gerontologist. 1995;35:472–480.

3. Fiatarone MA, Marks EC, Ryan ND, Meredith CN, Lipsitz LA, Evans WJ. High-intensity strength training in nonagenarians. Effects on skeletal muscle. JAMA. 1990;263:3029–3034.

4. Hinton R, Moody RC, Davis AW, Thomas SF. Osteoarthritis: diagnosis and therapeutic considerations. Am Fam Physician. 2002;65(5): 841–848.

5. Oddis CV. New perspectives on osteoarthritis. Am J Med. 1996;100: 10S–15S.

6. Seaman DR. Chiropractic and Pain Control. Ashville, NC: Drs Systems; 1995:26.

7. Johnston LB, Gross MT. Effects of foot orthoses on quality of life for individuals with patellofemoral pain syndrome. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2004;34(8):440–448.

8. Kuhn DR, Yochum TR, Cherry AR, Rodgers SS. Immediate changes in the quadriceps femoris angle after insertion of an orthotic device. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2002; 25(7):465–470.