Exercise Combats Manchester Chronic Pain and Related Distress
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 hard though! Fortunately, so many studies show that a tad bit of optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more reasons, Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain patients’ Manchester 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 did not, researchers documented that pain disability scores in the exercisers decreased significantly more. In both groups, reduced pain scores connected to higher self-efficacy scores (feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ improved disability reflected 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 documented that improved self-efficacy was linked to decreased disability whether they felt any reduction in pain intensity. They concluded that helping chronic pain patients improve 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 outlook toward pain can be a positive! Fear-avoidance is a not-too-unusual a problem for patients with pain. They do not want to do anything to worsen their condition and cause pain which leads to less movement and less optimism for ever being without pain. Research indicated that patients with longer periods with pain who expressed greater self-efficacy and patients with higher pain disability and depression had lower self-efficacy. (4) Knowing this, we encourage our Manchester pain patients to be physical and not avoid living life! Improvement is coming!
EXERCISE: Time to Move!
And we all know it: physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle are not beneficial for us. Researchers even write that they are associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain and can even exacerbate it! What’s the answer? Physical exercise, of course. Researchers pointed out in a new study that exercise programs that combine a variety of forms of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be more effective. Such arrangements 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 found to be of greatest benefit for chronic pain patients especially for those with spine pain conditions like chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. (5) Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries formulates a strategy expressly for each Manchester chiropractic patient.
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she shares the effective gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating chronic back pain.
Schedule your Manchester chiropractic appointment now. Whether you are a retired NFL player or NFL fan or neither of these, bring your chronic pain and worried mind to Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries. Let’s work together to reduce pain and fear of pain and improve your sense of independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!
