Getting Rid of Chronic Pain

How do you feel at this very moment? Do a self check by moving your body parts around. Do you have any aches and pains anywhere? You might answer with “Don’t most people have pain somewhere in their body?” or “Doesn’t pain come with old age?” Yes, that’s true, but pain isn’t just physical. The emotional stress it creates can be as hard on you as the pain itself. Let’s talk about ways you can find relief from your physical pain, which will lighten your emotional stress level at the same time. Your chiropractor’s goal is to help you feel better. Together, let’s take the first step toward a healthy, pain-free lifestyle.

What is pain?

The word “pain” is defined as an unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to sheer agony. Pain has physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerves being stimulated. Pain may be confined to a specific area, as in an injury, or it can be spread throughout the body.
Across the world, millions of people on a daily basis live with pain in some form or another, involving many different body parts. One of the most interesting things about pain is how each human being deals with it. Some learn to live with pain. Others can’t stand to feel even an ounce of it.

Chronic vs. acute pain

Acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself. This type of pain comes on quickly and can be severe but it lasts a relatively short period of time. In general, acute pain is in response to an event that happens to the body. It may be a result of surgery or an accident.
Chronic pain is different. Chronic pain tends to stay around or progress over longer periods of time. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months or even years. Oftentimes, chronic pain is resistant to traditional medical treatments. The emotional component of pain often comes in to play in a chronic situation.

The most common types of pain include arthritis, lower back, bone/joint pain, muscle pain and fibromyalgia. Back pain is the most frequent cause of limited activities for people younger than 45 years old.
The loss of productivity and daily activity due to pain is substantial. Americans spend at least $50 billion per year on back pain—and that’s just for the more easily identified costs.

Pain Hurts You and Your Entire Way of Life

Pain has a negative impact on an individual’s quality of life. It diminishes one’s ability to concentrate, do his or her job, exercise, socialize, to perform daily tasks and sleep. Over time, this results in the person moving into depression, isolation and loss of self esteem. Researchers have found that depression is the most frequent psychological reaction to chronic pain.

Common causes of chronic pain:

There may have been an initial injury like a trauma, fracture, sprain/strain, serious infection to cause the chronic pain. There could also be an ongoing cause of pain like arthritis, cancer, ear infection or injuries that never healed properly. Some people even suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. Many chronic pain conditions affect older adults. Common chronic pain complaints include headache, low back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain, neurogenic pain (pain resulting from damage to the peripheral nerves or to the central nervous system itself), and psychogenic pain (pain not due to past disease or injury or any visible sign of damage inside or outside the nervous system).

Common sources of chronic pain:

Quite simply, pain can come from anywhere in the body. Neck, shoulders, low back, hips and everywhere else can be the source. Many times, the location of the pain depends on how the injury happened. Perhaps someone injured their shoulder while throwing a ball. Maybe someone sprained their ankle while running. How about the person who falls down the stairs and hurts multiple parts of his or her body at once?

The key to understanding chronic pain:

If you hurt an area of your body and do not restore proper, healthy movement patterns, you will end up with problems later down the road. I can’t tell you how many patients I have seen who get in car accidents and hurt their neck and back. They wait and use pain as the indicator for how they feel. Eventually the pain goes down or even away, but they are often left with problems in their bones and joints.

Ways to prevent and treat chronic pain:

Pain is a complex puzzle. For certain cases, it takes complex solutions to help solve that puzzle. In some cases, the individual’s pain is so debilitating, it requires the use of X-ray, MRI’s or other special imaging to visualize the problem that is occurring in the spine or extremities. It may be appropriate to use any of the following: Western medicine, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, over-the-counter or prescription medication, chiropractic, nutritional supplementation, body work, yoga and psychology.
But there are things you can do for yourself that can help you prevent and treat your own chronic pain. Let’s explore these areas that, as you might have guessed, are all related to one another.

a.    Posture:

You have probably been told in different times of your life to have good posture. “Sit up straight” or “don’t slouch” are probably familiar phrases. Proper posture is difficult to attain, so don’t stress yourself out about it. When you are sitting, put a rolled up towel or sweatshirt in the small of your back. Sit all the way back to the rear of the chair so you feel the support in your back. When you stand, stand against the wall or a post so you can maintain erect posture.

It is important to strengthen your core muscles, the muscles along the spine. Yoga, Pilates or a specific workout program with weights will help you achieve this. You may want to find a personal trainer to help you focus on specific exercises to help you achieve your goals.

b.    Balance:

As you develop strength, you begin to develop balance. Many of the positions in Yoga, Pilates and weight training work specifically on balance. Would you believe that your feet also have a lot to do with balance? The three arches you have in your feet must all be supported in order for the rest of your body to have good support as well. If one or more of the arches is flat, it can significantly affect the stress to your joints and your ability to exercise efficiently. Ask your chiropractor about analyzing your feet to see if you need arch supports.

c.    Spinal Load and Instability:

Understanding how to exercise or perform any type of sporting activity is crucial to your health. How many people have you known that lift weights incorrectly? On a daily basis, I see patients who have hurt themselves with physical activity. By being careful and doing your exercises properly, you can reduce the amount of spinal load (stress) and instability you create for your body. I cannot tell you how important it is to make sure your feet and all of the joints above them are healthy and moving properly. When your joints move well, you can do your activities optimally and with minimal stress on your body.


d.    Alignment:

Exercising makes the muscles of the body region stronger. They will help you maintain structural and bony alignment. Chiropractic care is hopefully a regular part of your life. Visits to your chiropractor, at a frequency you both find appropriate, will help you maintain your alignment.

I hope this article gives you ideas on how to keep staying physically fit. Now go out there, exercise safely and feel amazing!


Reference
http://www.acatoday.org/pdf/back_pain.pdf. Accessed 9/03/2009.


About the Author
Kevin Wong, DC, is a 1996 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic West. He is an expert on foot analysis, walking and standing postures and orthotics. Dr. Wong travels the country speaking about spinal and extremity adjusting while practicing full-time in Orinda, California.