Do you experience chronic pain? You
are not alone! Chronic pain can impact
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 experienced.
(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, Most Chiropractic Clinic incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain
patients’ Murfreesboro 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, especially one dealing with
chronic low back pain. At the end of a 3-month study of
chronic low back pain patients who either exercised or didn’t,
researchers found 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 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 found
that improved self-efficacy was linked to 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 a
good way to help chronic pain patients cope with pain in addition to just
relieving their pain. (3)
OPTIMISM FOR A BETTER, LESS PAINFUL DAY
And an optimistic attitude toward
pain can help! Fear-avoidance is a common problem for patients with pain. They do not
want to do anything to worsen their pain
and exacerbate pain which leads to
less movement and less optimism for ever being without pain. Research indicated 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 encourage our
Murfreesboro 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 exacerbate it! What’s the solution? Physical exercise, of course.
Researchers explained in a new study that exercise
programs combining several 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 done two to three times a week for a month were demonstrated 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) Most Chiropractic Clinic
works with each Murfreesboro
chiropractic patient to make a strategy just
for him/her.
CONTACT Most Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she
shares the effectiveness of the gentle
protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating
chronic back pain.
Schedule your Murfreesboro 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 Most Chiropractic Clinic. Let’s work together to reduce
pain and fear of pain and raise your sense of
independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!