Call us to set up an appointment! 360-260-6903

Exercise Combats Vancouver Chronic Pain and Related Distress

Do you experience chronic pain? You aren’t alone! Chronic pain can distress 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 experienced. (1) Accepting pain is a challenge though! Luckily, study after study shows that some optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more reasons, Vancouver Disc Centers incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain patients’ Vancouver 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, lowered pain scores correlated with higher self-efficacy scores (feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ improved disability reflected a positive effect 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 associated with decreased disability whether they felt any reduction of pain intensity. They concluded 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 point of view toward pain can help! Fear-avoidance is a common problem for patients with pain. They don’t want to do anything to aggravate their pain and cause pain which leads them to move less and have less optimism for a life without pain. Research denoted 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 Vancouver pain patients to be physical and not avoid living life! ’Better’ is just around the corner!

EXERCISE: Time to Move!

And we all know it: physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle are not good for us. Researchers even write that they are associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain and can even aggravate it! What is the solution? Physical exercise, of course. Researchers noted in a new study that exercise programs that combine several types of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be more effective. 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) Vancouver Disc Centers designs a strategy specially for each Vancouver chiropractic patient.

CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers

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 Vancouver chiropractic appointment now. Whether you’re a retired NFL player or NFL fan or neither of these, bring your chronic pain and worried mind to Vancouver Disc Centers. We’ll work together to reduce pain and fear of pain and raise your sense of independence and joy of life with chiropractic and exercise!

« View All Featured Exercises
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."