For many, seeing and hearing ocean waves
is calming. For Manchester neck pain and back pain patients, experiencing the wave of healing pain relief can be the same if they are aware of it. For those who do not understand that pain ebbs and flows while healing, the wave of
healing can be upsetting. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries helps our
patients appreciate the wave of healing, recognize the research supporting our relieving treatment plan, and celebrate
the pain relief they experience.
DESCRIBING AND RATING PAIN
Since back and neck pain experiences are complete
with fluctuations of symptoms as they get better,
researchers tried to come up with a method
to classify neck pain patients and their pain patterns by tracking
1208 neck pain patients. They came up with 16 subgroups! Wow.
The biggest subgroup was “mild persistent fluctuating” with 25%
of the patients in it rating their pain as a 3.4 out of 10 (10
worst pain). The “moderate episodic” group had 24% reporting
pain at a 2.7. “Persistent fluctuating” pain patients
were those disturbed more by pain than the others. (1) Instead
of just labeling and rating pain, researchers had
patients describe their pain using a visual picture scale about
their pain intensity and symptomatology over 12 months. The
patient responses were very similar in explaining
the pain intensity but not as much for the symptoms and their
characteristics. (2) Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries observes that everybody
senses pain in somewhat different ways
and that they find certain types of pain more annoying than others
do. All of our Manchester chiropractic patients are distinctive!
THE HEALING “WAVE”
For a year, another study tracked
1124 neck pain patients who saw a chiropractor. Neck pain patients
having “persistent pain” – 75% to 63% over 12 months - and very minor pain remained relatively stable. Those
who had “episodic pain” – 21% to 24% over the year – had greater changes in their pain patterns. (3) This is the reason we tell
our back and neck pain patients that recovery is more wavelike
than a straight line. While healing, pain ebbs and flows.
Going away more than it comes is a solid signal of
healing and pain relief. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries repeatedly tells our Manchester
neck pain and back pain patients to not be discouraged along the way. We
will get there together!
CHIROPRACTIC IN MANAGING BACK AND NECK PAIN PATTERNS
Research such as explained here about
the patterns of neck pain and back pain sufferers reflects
the on-going need for them to have team members like their
chiropractors along with general practitioners to manage
it, understand it, and care for it. A researcher described
how a patient who had spinal surgery 30 years ago now had
neck pain and cervical arm pain due to adjacent segment disease – a condition
often seen in spinal discs above and below a spinal level that
underwent back surgery - was treated with cervical manipulation, flexion
distraction decompression (Cox®), soft-tissue mobilization, and therapeutic ultrasound
for resolution of pain. (4) Again, pain relief is rarely
sudden, but rather slow and steady with treatment,
coming/going pain intensity, patience, and appreciation for the relief attained
be it 50%, 70% or 90% as explained by the 50% Rule of Cox®
Technic.
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. John Murray on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he presents patient
cases that were difficultcomplex and yet attained
relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management with
time.
Schedule your Manchester chiropractic
appointment today. Together, we will aim for
the calming wave of healing and celebrate the pain relief.
