For many, seeing and hearing ocean waves
is calming. For San Jose neck pain and back pain patients, feeling the wave of healing pain relief can be the same if they are aware of it. For those who don’t get that pain ebbs and flows while healing, the wave of
healing can be saddening. Chiropractic Solutions helps our
patients appreciate the wave of healing, know 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 fluctuating symptoms as they heal,
researchers tried to come up with a way
to classify neck pain patients and their pain patterns by tracking
1208 neck pain patients. They came up with 16 subgroups! Wow.
The largest 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% with a pain rating of 2.7. “Persistent fluctuating” pain patients
were those disturbed more by pain than the others. (1) Instead
of just describing 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 quite similar in defining
the pain intensity but not so much for the symptoms and their
characteristics. (2) Chiropractic Solutions observes that everybody
feels pain in slightly different ways
and that they find certain sorts of pain more annoying than others
do. All of our San Jose chiropractic patients are distinctive!
THE HEALING “WAVE”
For a year, another study followed
1124 neck pain patients seeing a chiropractor. Neck pain patients
experiencing “persistent pain” – 75% to 63% over the
year - and very minor pain stayed relatively stable. Those
who had “episodic pain” – 21% to 24% over the year – changed
more in their pain patterns. (3) This is why we tell
our back and neck pain patients that recovery is more like a wave
than a straight line. While healing, pain comes and goes.
Going away more than it comes is a solid signal of
healing and pain relief. Chiropractic Solutions reminds our San Jose
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 described here about
the patterns of neck pain and back pain sufferers reflects
the on-going need for them to have partners like their
chiropractors along with general practitioners to manage
it, understand it, and care for it. One researcher described
how a patient who underwent spinal surgery 30 years ago now experienced
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 pain relief. (4) Again, pain relief is seldom
sudden, but rather systematic 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 Chiropractic Solutions
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. John Murray on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he presents patient
cases that were complicated and yet attained
relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management over
time.
Make your San Jose chiropractic
appointment today. Together, we’ll work toward
the calming wave of healing and celebrate the pain relief.
