For many, ocean waves are calming. For Easley neck pain and back pain patients, experiencing the wave of relief from pain can be the same if they are aware of it. For those who do not get that pain waxes and wanes while healing, the wave of healing can be saddening. Young Chiropractic helps our patients understand the wave of healing, know the research supporting our relieving treatment plan, and celebrate the pain relief they get.
DESCRIBING AND RATING PAIN
Since back and neck pain experiences are complete with fluctuating symptoms as they heal, researchers have worked on 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 biggest subgroup was “mild persistent fluctuating” with 25% of the patients in it reporting pain as a 3.4 out of 10 (0 no 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 defining and rating pain, researchers had patients portray their pain using a visual picture scale about their pain intensity and symptomatology over 12 months. The patient responses were very similar in defining the pain intensity but not as much for the symptoms and their characteristics. (2) Young Chiropractic finds that everybody experiences pain in somewhat different ways and that they find certain sorts of pain more annoying than others do. All of our Easley chiropractic patients are distinctive!
THE HEALING “WAVE”
For a year, another study tracked 1124 neck pain patients who saw a chiropractor. Neck pain patients experiencing “persistent pain” – 75% to 63% over 12 months - and very minor pain stayed relatively stable. Those who had “episodic pain” – 21% to 24% over the year – had greater changes in their pain patterns. (3) This is why we inform 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. Young Chiropractic reminds our Easley 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 shows the on-going need for them to have partners like their chiropractors as well as 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 experienced neck pain and cervical arm pain due to adjacent segment disease – a condition often seen in spinal discs around the 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 supported by the 50% Rule of Cox® Technic.
CONTACT Young Chiropractic
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 found relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management with time.
Make your Easley chiropractic appointment soon. Together, we’ll aim for the calming wave of healing and celebrate the pain relief.
