Exercise Combats Toronto Chronic Pain and Related Distress
Do you experience chronic pain? You’re not 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 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 a tad bit of optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more reasons, Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain patients’ Toronto 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 did not, researchers documented that pain disability scores in the exercisers fell significantly more. In both groups, lowered pain scores correlated with higher self-efficacy scores (feelings of independence). Chronic low back pain exercisers’ increased disability reflected a beneficial 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 lowered disability regardless of any reduction of pain intensity. They summarized 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 attitude 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 them to move less and have less optimism for ever being without pain. Research showed 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) Knowing this, we encourage our Toronto pain patients to be physical and not avoid living life! Improvement 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 go so far as to write that they are associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain and can even heighten it! What’s the answer? Physical exercise, of course. Researchers pointed out in a recent study that exercise programs combining several types of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be better. Such combinations 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 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) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre works with each Toronto chiropractic patient to formulate a plan just for him/her.
CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she shares the effectiveness of the gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating chronic back pain.
Schedule your Toronto 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 Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre. 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!
