Do you have 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 revealed that
the greater the pain acceptance, the lower the pain intensity they had.
(1) Accepting pain is hard though! Luckily,
so many studies show that a little
optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more
reasons, New Roads Chiropractic Center incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain
patients’ New Roads chiropractic treatment plans!
EXERCISE: GOOD FOR BODY AND MIND
Exercise benefits extend beyond the physical body
improvements. Exercise also improves the mind and outlook of a
person in pain, especially 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 didn’t,
researchers documented that pain disability scores in the exercisers
decreased significantly more. In both groups, reduced
pain scores correlated with higher self-efficacy scores
(feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ improved
disability reflected a positive impact
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 linked to lowered
disability regardless of any decrease
in pain intensity. They concluded that helping chronic
pain patients improve their sense of self-efficacy could be an effective addition to the treatment of chronic pain patients
beyond just pain relief. (3)
OPTIMISM FOR A BETTER, LESS PAINFUL DAY
And an optimistic attitude toward
pain can be a plus! Fear-avoidance is a
not-too-unusual a problem for patients with pain. They don’t
want to do anything to provoke their condition
and exacerbate pain which leads them to move less and have less optimism for ever being 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)
Knowing this, we support our
New Roads pain patients to be active 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 bad for us. Researchers go so
far as to write that they are linked to chronic
musculoskeletal pain and can even aggravate it! What’s the solution? Physical exercise, of course.
Researchers explained in a new study that exercise
programs combining a variety of types
of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be more
effective. Such arrangements are also more adaptable
to a particular patient’s issues. Light-to-moderate
intensity exercise performed two to three times a week for just 4
weeks were found 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) New Roads Chiropractic Center
works with each New Roads
chiropractic patient to design a strategy just
for him/her.
CONTACT New Roads Chiropractic Center
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 New Roads chiropractic
appointment soon. Whether you’re a retired NFL
player or NFL fan or neither of these, bring your chronic pain and worried mind
to New Roads Chiropractic Center. Let’s work together to decrease
pain and fear of pain and raise your sense of
independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!