Do you experience chronic pain? You’re not 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! Luckily,
study after study shows that some
optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more
reasons, Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain
patients’ Auburn 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 who has
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
fell significantly more. In both groups, lowered
pain scores correlated with higher self-efficacy scores
(feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ improved
disability showed 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 found
that improved self-efficacy was associated with decreased
disability whether they felt any reduction
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 outlook toward
pain can help! Fear-avoidance is a
not-too-unusual a problem for patients with pain. They do not
want to do anything to provoke their condition
and exacerbate pain which leads to
less movement and less optimism for ever being without pain. Research indicated that patients with longer episodes
of pain who expressed greater self-efficacy and
patients with higher pain disability and depression had lower self-efficacy. (4)
Knowing this, we encourage our
Auburn pain patients to be physical and keep
living life! Improvement 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 go so
far as to write that they are associated with chronic
musculoskeletal pain and can even exacerbate it! What
is the solution? Physical exercise, of course.
Researchers pointed out in a recent study that exercise
programs combining several forms
of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be better. Such arrangements are also more adaptable
to a particular patient’s issues. Light-to-moderate
intensity exercise done 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) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
designs a plan specially for
each Auburn chiropractic patient.
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she
details the effective gentle
protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating
chronic back pain.
Schedule your Auburn 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 Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.. Let’s work together to reduce
pain and fear of pain and increase your sense of
independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!