For many, ocean waves are calming. For New Roads back pain and
neck pain patients, feeling the wave of relief from
pain can be the same if they are aware of it. For those who do not get that pain ebbs and flows while healing, the wave of
healing can be upsetting. New Roads Chiropractic Center helps our
patients appreciate the wave of healing, are
aware of the research supporting our relieving treatment plan, and celebrate
the pain relief they experience.
DESCRIBING AND RATING PAIN
Since back and neck pain experiences are filled
with fluctuating symptoms as they heal,
researchers tried to come up with a method
to classify neck pain patients and their pain patterns by tracking
1208 neck pain patients. They produced 16 subgroups! Wow.
The largest subgroup was “mild persistent fluctuating” with 25%
of the patients in it rating their pain as a 3.4 out of 10 (10
worst pain). The “moderate episodic” group had 24% with a pain rating of 2.7. “Persistent fluctuating” pain patients
were those disturbed more by pain than the others. (1) Instead
of just labeling and rating pain, researchers had
patients describe their pain using a visual picture scale about
their pain intensity and symptomatology over 12 months. The
patient responses were quite similar in defining
the pain intensity but not so much for the symptoms and their
characteristics. (2) New Roads Chiropractic Center observes that everybody
experiences pain in slightly different ways
and that they find certain types of pain more annoying than others
do. All of our New Roads chiropractic patients are unique!
THE HEALING “WAVE”
For 12 months, another study followed
1124 neck pain patients who saw a chiropractor. Neck pain patients
having “persistent pain” – 75% to 63% over 12 months - and very minor pain remained relatively stable. Those
who had “episodic pain” – 21% to 24% over the year – had greater changes in their pain patterns. (3) This is why we forewarn
our back and neck pain patients that recovery is more wavelike
than a straight line. While healing, pain comes and goes.
Going away more than it comes is a solid sign of
healing and pain relief. New Roads Chiropractic Center reminds our New Roads
neck pain and back pain patients to not be discouraged along the way. We
will get there together!
CHIROPRACTIC IN MANAGING BACK AND NECK PAIN PATTERNS
Research such as explained here regarding
the patterns of neck pain and back pain sufferers reflects
the on-going need for them to have partners like their
chiropractors as well as general practitioners to manage
it, understand it, and care for it. One researcher explained
how a patient who had spinal surgery 30 years ago now had
neck pain and cervical arm pain due to adjacent segment disease – a condition
often seen in spinal discs above and below a spinal level that
underwent back surgery - was treated with cervical manipulation, flexion
distraction decompression (Cox®), soft-tissue mobilization, and therapeutic ultrasound
for resolution of pain. (4) Again, pain relief is rarely
sudden, but rather slow and steady with treatment,
coming/going pain intensity, patience, and appreciation for the relief attained
be it 50%, 70% or 90% as explained by the 50% Rule of Cox®
Technic.
CONTACT New Roads Chiropractic Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. John Murray on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he presents patient
cases that were complicated and yet attained
relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management over
time.
Schedule your New Roads chiropractic
appointment now. Together, we will work toward
the calming wave of healing and celebrate the pain relief.
