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 reported having
pain daily. A recent questionnaire study of them found that
the greater the pain acceptance, the lower the pain intensity they had.
(1) Accepting pain is a challenge though! Fortunately,
so many studies show that a tad bit of
optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more
reasons, Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain
patients’ Sitka 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
dropped 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 beneficial influence
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 decreased
disability regardless of any decrease
of 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 help! Fear-avoidance is a common problem for patients with pain. They do not
want to do anything to aggravate their condition
and exacerbate pain which leads them to move less and have less optimism for ever being without pain. Research showed 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
Sitka pain patients to be active and not avoid
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 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 noted in a recent study that exercise
programs that combine a variety of forms
of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be better. 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 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) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
works with each Sitka
chiropractic patient to design a plan just
for him/her.
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she
describes the effectiveness of the gentle
protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating
chronic back pain.
Schedule your Sitka 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 Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka. 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!