Anything out there to preserve height?

[Whacked]

Serious question!

I know youre supposed to shrink an inch or so from the morning to evening but man, I swear Im like 2 inches shorter by the time I come home from work. LOL

My posture is fine and I am always hydrated but for some reason, my disc height in my back does not support my height. I'm 5'11 (well, in the morning LOL)

 

[Rosie Chee]

Serious question!

I know youre supposed to shrink an inch or so from the morning to evening but man, I swear Im like 2 inches shorter by the time I come home from work. LOL

My posture is fine and I am always hydrated but for some reason, my disc height in my back does not support my height. I'm 5'11 (well, in the morning LOL)

Your spine naturally compresses during the day, regardless of your posture. It's NORMAL.

You can't really take anything to "preserve height".

 

[T-AD]

On average, I'm 6'4" tall. Shrinking by the end of the day actually benefits my skull...less chance of hitting my head on things. I guess it also helps my arms...less chance of being asked to reach something on the top shelf at the grocery store by some little ol' lady.

Possible quasi-solution: Move to the highest altitude you can. Gravity will affect you less at higher altitude than it would at the equator. Option 2: Become astronaut, land permanent gig on space station. Side effect: bones wither in zero grav.

"Damned if you do; damned if you don't." -Bart Simpson

 

[BoyFromAus]

you can't preserve height because of gravity (downward force on spine = Mass on spine x gravity).

More downward force => greater compression.

You can account for it by using an inversion table for an hour or so. This will decompress the epiphisal plates (giving you 1,2 maybe 3 inches of extra height temporarily). But it's only a matter of time before they compress again.... been there, done that.

 

[Whacked]

I'm pretty sure the plates are permanently closed once you're past puberty. However, the decompression of the spinal discs is perhaps a plausible idea. thanks

 

[Robbo]

Just throwing my thoughts in...

I was getting paranoid about my back a couple of months ago and read that adequate hydration is important for disc health due to their water content.

I don't know if hydration plays a big part in normal diurnal compression though.

 

[BoyFromAus]

I'm pretty sure the plates are permanently closed once you're past puberty. However, the decompression of the spinal discs is perhaps a plausible idea. thanks

no probs. The vertibrae are ossified as are the legs etc. once you've passed puberty. But the discs which connect each them are in a way slightly "elastic". That's why compression / expansion happens.