My friend was 6'0 1/2'' and he became a 5'11 1/2''.....Does anyone one know what causes height shrinkage....
2006-12-06 02:49:24 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Other - Health
You can shrink 1/2 an inch by normal spinal compression. IF someone has a job lifting heave objects or they start to lift weights they can lose 1/2 in a couple of weeks.
2006-12-06 02:57:33 · answer #1 · answered by cirestan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The most common cause is that we do not measure a person's height often and then we do not typically measure it precisely. I remembered that I was told that I was exactly 5' 83/4" when I was in high school. When I became a physician I asked my nurse to measure my height and it turns out that I am 5' 8". Did they measure it incorrectly in high school or do I remember it incorrectly? That having been said it is possible for a person's height to decrease. Proper posture affects such a measurement and this should be a consideration. Indeed some people develop kyphosis which is a curvature of the spine. Although their 'height' has technically not changed the measurement of their height will be less as they are unable to stand fully erect. Finally the discs between vertebra are high in water content. Over time we lose water content in our body including our discs. A decrease in the height of the discs is a very common reason for people's height ot decrease as they get older.
2006-12-06 02:56:24 · answer #2 · answered by john e russo md facm faafp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. As we age our bones, particularly in our spines, tend to collapse. Osteoporosis is one of the major causes. I don't know if osteoporosis causes what some call a dowager hump in the upper back - you've seen some little old ladies that look like they are hunched over. This also makes them shorter. My grand mother shrank from 5' to 4'9 That is a huge difference! She was 93 years old and she had osteoporosis and arthritis.
2006-12-06 03:06:12 · answer #3 · answered by PRS 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was in a car accident and ruptured a disc... I actually lost a half inch.
How bad does that suck! I'm now 5' 1 1/2"
Anyway, as we age, our discs compress, it's normal, but to lose a whole inch in a short time would take some sort of major thing.
Is he having pain... maybe he should put a call into his doc.
2006-12-06 02:58:58 · answer #4 · answered by my-kids-mom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everyone starts to shrink around the age of 30.
Old age causes it.
2006-12-06 02:53:05 · answer #5 · answered by S H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the extraordinary opposite! once you sleep your bones and muscular tissues stretch out, inflicting you to advance an inch or 2. whilst your up and shifting, your muscular tissues get stressful, and able to do the artwork it relatively is needed for the day. This makes you stressful up, and your bones and muscular tissues look 'shorter'.
2016-10-17 21:37:38 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes as we age (hate that when it happens) we do loose bone and that compresses and we actually do loose height --that and out posture isn't quite the same as when we were young
2006-12-06 02:54:08 · answer #7 · answered by skizzle-d-wizzle 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, as we grow older the discs between the vertebrae grow thinner, so the spinal column becomes shorter.
2006-12-06 02:54:38 · answer #8 · answered by thvannus@verizon.net 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course you can. The older you get the more fragile your bones are and the more likely you start to get smaller. If you have osteoporosis you are more likely to "SHRINK".
2006-12-06 02:58:58 · answer #9 · answered by Tam Tam 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
combat it with alexander technique.
some of it is related to postural habits.
but also things compress and degenerate.
2006-12-06 02:57:13 · answer #10 · answered by BonesofaTeacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋