For many, seeing and hearing ocean waves is calming. For Murfreesboro back pain and neck pain patients, experiencing the wave of relief from pain can be the same if they are aware of it. For those who don’t realize that pain waxes and wanes while healing, the wave of healing can be upsetting. Most Chiropractic Clinic helps our patients understand 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 filled with fluctuations of symptoms as they get better, 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 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% 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 portray their pain using a visual picture scale about their pain intensity and symptomatology over 12 months. The patient responses were quite similar in explaining the pain intensity but not so much for the symptoms and their characteristics. (2) Most Chiropractic Clinic notices that everybody feels pain in somewhat different ways and that they find certain types of pain more annoying than others do. All of our Murfreesboro chiropractic patients are unique!
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 the year - and very minor pain remained relatively stable. Those who had “episodic pain” – 21% to 24% over the year – changed more in their pain patterns. (3) This is the reason we forewarn our back and neck pain patients that recovery is more like a wave than a straight line. While healing, pain ebbs and flows. Going away more than it comes is a positive signal of healing and pain relief. Most Chiropractic Clinic reminds our Murfreesboro neck pain and back pain patients to not be discouraged along the way. We’ll get there together!
CHIROPRACTIC IN MANAGING BACK AND NECK PAIN PATTERNS
Research such as explained here regarding the patterns of neck pain and back pain sufferers shows 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 explained how a patient who underwent 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 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 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 Most Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. John Murray on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares patient cases that were difficultcomplex and yet attained relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management over time.
Schedule your Murfreesboro chiropractic appointment soon. Together, we’ll aim for the calming wave of healing and celebrate the pain relief.
