Do you experience chronic pain? You aren’t alone! Chronic pain can distress
the mind and the body. Over 80% of retired NFL football players experience
pain daily. A recent questionnaire study of them noted that
the greater the pain acceptance, the lower the pain intensity they experienced.
(1) Accepting pain is a challenge though! Luckily,
study after study shows that some
optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more
reasons, Vancouver Disc Centers incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain
patients’ Vancouver chiropractic treatment plans!
EXERCISE: GOOD FOR BODY AND MIND
Exercise benefits go beyond the physical body
improvements. Exercise also enhances the mind and outlook of a
person in pain, particularly one dealing with
chronic low back pain. At the conclusion of a 3-month study of
chronic low back pain patients who either exercised or did not,
researchers documented that pain disability scores in the exercisers
decreased significantly more. In both groups, lowered
pain scores correlated with higher self-efficacy scores
(feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ improved
disability reflected a positive effect
on increased self-efficacy and pain relief. (2) Another study of 72 patients
before treatment for their chronic pain and after 3 months of treatment documented
that improved self-efficacy was associated with decreased
disability whether they felt any reduction
of pain intensity. They concluded that helping chronic
pain patients raise their sense of self-efficacy could be a
good way to help chronic pain patients cope with pain in addition to just
relieving their pain. (3)
OPTIMISM FOR A BETTER, LESS PAINFUL DAY
And an optimistic point of view toward
pain can help! Fear-avoidance is a common problem for patients with pain. They don’t
want to do anything to aggravate their pain
and cause pain which leads them to move less and have less optimism for a life without
pain. Research denoted that patients with longer periods with pain who stated greater self-efficacy and
patients with higher pain disability and depression had lower self-efficacy. (4)
Understanding this, we encourage our
Vancouver pain patients to be physical and not avoid
living life! ’Better’ is just around the corner!
EXERCISE: Time to Move!
And we all know it: physical inactivity and sedentary
lifestyle are not good for us. Researchers even write that they are associated with chronic
musculoskeletal pain and can even aggravate it! What
is the solution? Physical exercise, of course.
Researchers noted in a new study that exercise
programs that combine several types
of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be more
effective. Such combinations are also more flexible
to an individual patient’s issues. Light-to-moderate
intensity exercise performed two to three times a week for a month were demonstrated to be of greatest benefit
for chronic pain patients particularly for those with spine pain conditions like chronic
low back pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. (5) Vancouver Disc Centers
designs a strategy specially for
each Vancouver chiropractic patient.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she
describes the effective gentle
protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating
chronic back pain.
Schedule your Vancouver chiropractic
appointment now. Whether you’re a retired NFL
player or NFL fan or neither of these, bring your chronic pain and worried mind
to Vancouver Disc Centers. We’ll work together to reduce
pain and fear of pain and raise your sense of
independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!