Do you have chronic pain? You aren’t alone! Chronic pain can work on
the mind and the body. Over 80% of retired NFL football players reported having
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! Fortunately,
study after study shows that some
optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more
reasons, Wilson Family Chiropractic incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain
patients’ Millville 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 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’ increased
disability showed a beneficial 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 found
that improved self-efficacy was associated with decreased
disability whether they felt any decrease
in pain intensity. They summarized that helping chronic
pain patients raise 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 point of view 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 worsen their condition
and exacerbate 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
Millville pain patients to be active and keep
living life! Improvement is coming!
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 linked to chronic
musculoskeletal pain and can even exacerbate it! What’s the answer? Physical exercise, of course.
Researchers pointed out in a recent 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 flexible
to a particular patient’s issues. Light-to-moderate
intensity exercise performed two to three times a week for a month were shown 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) Wilson Family Chiropractic
works with each Millville
chiropractic patient to formulate a strategy just
for him/her.
CONTACT Wilson Family Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she
details the effectiveness of the gentle
protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating
chronic back pain.
Make your Millville chiropractic
appointment soon. Whether you are a retired NFL
player or NFL fan or neither of these, bring your chronic pain and worried mind
to Wilson Family Chiropractic. We’ll work together to decrease
pain and fear of pain and raise your sense of
independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!