Chronic Pain revisited: Ways to prevent chronic pain from getting a hold on your life.

Back pain sucks. Let’s just admit it. Pain of any type doesn’t feel good. But what it does is point to something wrong. What I mean is that it tells us that something bad is happening! When you accidentally cut yourself chopping up onions (or whatever it is you are cutting up for dinner) your bodies signals stop doing that! Which is good because if you don’t stop you could potentially harm yourself very badly.

The point of this is to alert you that something is amiss. Chronic pain on the other hand is a difficult thing to deal with because it doesn’t necessarily mean that something is being damaged. It is the interpretation that gets mixed up. Your brain thinks that there is something being damaged which is not always the case. It is faulty wiring so to speak. What we have to do is get those faulty wiring patterns to reset so that there isn’t a message saying,” You’re being damaged!”

So how to do this? It is complicated but in my experience it is a combination of healthy thoughts as well as movement. Healthy movements throughout the day is key. Don’t stand still for long periods and don’t sit for long periods. Every one is different on what is a long time but movement is so good for you that it not only helps your body but your mind! This is good news because you can knock out two birds with one stone.

Simple ways to move is to dance. Yes I know sound funny, but dancing can be a fun way to get healthy movement in as well as make you feel better because you can dance to music! Almost everyone likes some form of music. Music is also a way to unwind your mind and help to reset the pain pathways.

All of this won’t happen overnight. It will take time. And getting checked by a chiropractor or manual therapist can help with stuck joints or muscles that aren’t allowing you to move properly. That is basically what a chiropractor helps with. Getting things unstuck. Well at least in my opinion.

Life is movement. Life is not stagnant. When it becomes stagnant it starts to stink. NO FUN! So do whatever moves you! If it is dancing then dance. If it is playing sports then play sports. Or work out with weights. Life happens so every once in a while get a tune up from a chiropractor to keep the body moving the way we are meant to!

Cheers!

Dr. K