Exercise Combats Oxford Chronic Pain and Related Distress
Do you experience chronic pain? You aren’t 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 revealed that the greater the pain acceptance, the lower the pain intensity they experienced. (1) Accepting pain is hard though! Luckily, so many studies show that some optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more reasons, Satterwhite Chiropractic incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain patients’ Oxford 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, especially 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 did not, researchers documented 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’ improved disability showed 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 found that improved self-efficacy was linked to decreased disability whether they felt any decrease in pain intensity. They concluded that helping chronic pain patients tweak 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 help! Fear-avoidance is a not-too-unusual a problem for patients with pain. They don’t want to do anything to aggravate their condition and exacerbate pain which leads to less movement and less optimism for a life 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) Understanding this, we encourage our Oxford pain patients to be active 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 bad for us. Researchers go so far as to write that they are linked to chronic musculoskeletal pain and can even aggravate it! What’s the answer? 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 more effective. 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 just 4 weeks 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) Satterwhite Chiropractic formulates a strategy specially for each Oxford chiropractic patient.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
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 Oxford 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 Satterwhite Chiropractic. 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!
