Exercise Combats Groton Chronic Pain and Related Distress
Do you have chronic pain? You are not alone! Chronic pain can work on the mind and the body. Over 80% of retired NFL football players experience pain daily. A recent questionnaire study of them noted that the greater the pain acceptance, the lower the pain intensity they had. (1) Accepting pain is a challenge though! Luckily, study after study shows that a little optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more reasons, Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain patients’ Groton chiropractic treatment plans!
EXERCISE: GOOD FOR BODY AND MIND
Exercise benefits extend 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 fell significantly more. In both groups, lowered pain scores connected to higher self-efficacy scores (feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ increased disability reflected a positive 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 linked to decreased disability regardless of any reduction of 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 outlook toward pain can be a plus! Fear-avoidance is a not-too-unusual a problem for patients with pain. They do not want to do anything to aggravate their pain and cause pain which leads to less movement and less optimism for a life without pain. Research showed 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) Understanding this, we encourage our Groton pain patients to be physical and not avoid living life! ’Better’ is coming!
EXERCISE: Time to Move!
And we all know it: physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle are not beneficial for us. Researchers go so far as to write that they are linked to chronic musculoskeletal pain and can even exacerbate it! What is the solution? Physical exercise, of course. Researchers explained in a recent study that exercise programs combining a variety of 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 performed two to three times a week for a month were demonstrated 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) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office designs a strategy specially for each Groton chiropractic patient.
CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she describes the effective gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating chronic back pain.
Schedule your Groton 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 Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office. We’ll work together to decrease pain and fear of pain and increase your sense of independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!
