Exercise Combats La Grande Chronic Pain and Related Distress
Do you have 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 revealed that the greater the pain acceptance, the lower the pain intensity they experienced. (1) Accepting pain is a challenge though! Fortunately, study after study shows that a little optimism and physical activity improves pain and optimism. For these and more reasons, Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC incorporates exercise into our chronic back pain patients’ La Grande 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, especially one dealing with chronic low back pain. At the end 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 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 reported that improved self-efficacy was linked to decreased disability regardless of any decrease of pain intensity. They concluded that helping chronic pain patients raise their sense of self-efficacy could be an effective addition to the treatment of chronic pain patients beyond just pain relief. (3)
OPTIMISM FOR A BETTER, LESS PAINFUL DAY
And an optimistic attitude toward pain can be a positive! Fear-avoidance is a common problem for patients with pain. They do not want to do anything to aggravate their condition and cause 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) Knowing this, we support our La Grande pain patients to be active 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 beneficial for us. Researchers even write that they are associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain and can even aggravate it! What’s the solution? Physical exercise, of course. Researchers explained in a recent study that exercise programs that combine a variety of types of exercise – flexibility, balance, aerobic, strengthening – tend to be more effective. Such arrangements are also more flexible to a particular patient’s issues. Light-to-moderate intensity exercise done 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) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC works with each La Grande chiropractic patient to design a plan just for him/her.
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Kelly Brinkman on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she details the effectiveness of the gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating chronic back pain.
Schedule your La Grande 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 Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC. 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!
