Chiropractic Solutions Helps Back Pain Sufferers Fight Fear Avoidance and Move More
Fear of back pain? Once you’ve experienced it, you answer “yes!” Your San Jose chiropractor totally understands it. San Jose back pain and neck pain patients don’t want to experience that pain again. Chiropractic Solutions helps spine pain sufferers regain their confidence with encouragement and exercise.
FEAR AVOIDANCE DUE TO BACK PAIN
Back pain sufferers want to avoid back pain if they can help it. That desire - whether obvious or subtle, stated or just ruminated in the mind – sets up the situation for a behavior known as fear-avoidance. Patients with persistent spinal pain syndrome - post-surgically caused or not – elicited high levels of fear avoidance, anxiety, and depression. (1) Researchers noted that the pain experience isn't just physical as emotions, behaviors and beliefs are mixed in, too. Fear avoidant behavior like fearing object lifting grows and impacts muscle behavior without realizing it. A new study compared fear-avoidant beliefs and the lumbar spine paraspinal muscle activity use while lifting in both back pain and in pain-free persons. Fear of lifting an object with a flexed spine as documented in a questionnaire was negatively related with erector spinae activity to protect the spine from injury. The proper way to lift has been argued for a long time. Lifting with a straight back has been portrayed as safer than lifting with a flexed back though research has not necessarily supported that while lifting with a lordotic posture has been found to result in more erector spinae muscle activity resulting in muscle fatigue and pain. (2) Chiropractic Solutions knows the importance of handling fear avoidance and its link to better quality of life.
HOW TO MANAGE FEAR AVOIDANCE
Researchers wrote that back pain sufferers today ‘get’ that they must keep active but some require a bit more support and encouragement to move and exercise due to a lack of confidence in their bodies’ ability to exercise without causing pain. The healthcare provider not only can give the latest findings on pain control but also train the back pain patient to be physical in the safest way possible. (3) If you’re that patient, Chiropractic Solutions is your coach! We’re a team and can help you move easier and with less fear and provide gentle, relieving spinal manipulation. Three months of chiropractic manipulation and exercise for older adults with chronic back pain improved their self-efficacy and fear-avoidant behaviors along with reductions in disability. A 30% or more reduction in the Oswestry Disability Index indicated positive response to care. (4) The more engaged a patient is with treatment, the greater the influence on the feeling of self-efficacy and disability reduction. (5) Let us work together to manage your San Jose back pain so it does not control you.
CONTACT Chiropractic Solutions
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Tom Menendez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for an older patient with back pain for whom fear avoidance is understandable.
Schedule your San Jose chiropractic appointment today so that if you are asked if you fear back pain, you can say “no”!
