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 experience
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 hard though! Fortunately,
study after study shows that some
optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more
reasons, Minster Chiropractic Center incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain
patients’ Minster chiropractic treatment plans!
EXERCISE: GOOD FOR BODY AND MIND
Exercise benefits extend beyond the physical body
improvements. Exercise also improves 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 found that pain disability scores in the exercisers
dropped significantly more. In both groups, reduced
pain scores correlated with higher self-efficacy scores
(feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ increased
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 reported
that improved self-efficacy was associated with lowered
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 attitude toward
pain can be a plus! Fear-avoidance is a common problem for patients with pain. They don’t
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 denoted that patients with longer episodes
of pain who stated greater self-efficacy and
patients with higher pain disability and depression had lower self-efficacy. (4)
Understanding this, we encourage our
Minster pain patients to be active and keep
living life! ’Better’ is just around the corner!
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 noted in a new study that exercise
programs that combine 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 performed 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) Minster Chiropractic Center
works with each Minster
chiropractic patient to formulate a strategy just
for him/her.
CONTACT Minster Chiropractic Center
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.
Make your Minster chiropractic
appointment today. Whether you are a retired NFL
player or NFL fan or neither of these, bring your chronic pain and worried mind
to Minster Chiropractic Center. We’ll work together to reduce
pain and fear of pain and increase your sense of
independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!