Recently I visited a mall with my daughter and I was intrigued by the variety of food and books displayed on the shelves. The thing which caught my eye was the mention on each product the manufacturing date and the expiry. Whether it is food or fruit which are kept for sell are fresh or are a day old, whether the book displayed is the current best seller or an old time classic. Extrapolating this with the human body, we too have a shelf life. The meter of our tenure as human was turned on the day we were born. The longevity as well as the quality of your shelfLIFE rests entirely on you. It is we and only we who are responsible for the longevity as well as quality of our body to have a better shelfLIFE. 

 

Healthy nutrition, proper hydration, no addiction and regular exercise is the crux of a good life. Any variation to this causes dis-ease or disturbs the ease of our internal milieu. Once the body has a dis-ease it is again how long you take to combat it in the most scientific way 

 

Every dis-ease has a shelf life. The early you intervene the better for the dis-ease. A minor hitch in your normal For example when we have chest pain we get worried and get an ECG, we don’t wait for a fulminant attack and g serious damage to our heart. The same however, doesn’tl hold true for other not so serious dis-eases, when we have cold we try home remedies till we develop a bad pneumonia. 

 

Similarly in the case of Backpain, every relative in India is a doctor so every Backpain is treated with home remedies till it becomes a spinal disorder. The shelf life for the first episode of Backpain is 3-6 weeks, if treated in this window period with proper rest, anti inflammatories, hydration, nutrition and physiotherapy, pain will disappear completely only to reappear again if hydration, nutrition and exercise is discontinued.

 

Sciatica which is a very disabling condition leads to shooting current like pain radiating to the leg making it very difficult for walking and carry on normal activities. Sciatica pain is considered as a pain worst than the pain a female suffers at the time of labour and delivery of a baby. The first 45days are crucial for managing Sciatica which includes rest,  anti inflammatories and Physiotherapy. If this is missed, most of these patients almost 50% needs surgical intervention. 

 

Cervical spondylitis and arm pain is a common middle age problem encountered. In this the patient suffers a radiating pain going down the arm making it difficult for the person to sit or sleep. 95% of these individuals if treated in a proper way resumes normal activity in 1.5months. It is the shelfLIFE of the disease which if treated in the acute phase which makes all the difference.

 

Scoliosis– Scoliosis is a S or K shaped deformity of the spine. This can be from birth called congenital or from an unknown cause called idiopathic. All scoliosis to begin with are small in angle and size. This is the right time to treat them. If we miss the initial phase most of these spinal deformities are dreadful and can lead to a very disabling life.

 

To summarise, everything in life has a shelfLIFE so does diseases. So to be prudent we should act prompt and at the right time to avoid the disease to go out of control and shorten our life.