For many, ocean waves are calming. For Manahawkin neck pain and back pain patients, feeling the wave of relief from
pain can be the same if they understand it. For those who don’t realize that pain waxes
and wanes while healing, the wave of
healing can be saddening. Manahawkin Chiropractic Center helps our
patients appreciate the wave of healing, are
aware of 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 get better,
researchers tried to come up with a system
to classify neck pain patients and their pain patterns by studying
1208 neck pain patients. They produced 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 bothered more by pain than the others. (1) Instead
of just labeling and rating pain, researchers had
patients describe their pain using a visual picture scale about
their pain intensity and symptomatology over a year. The
patient responses were very similar in defining
the pain intensity but not so much for the symptoms and their
characteristics. (2) Manahawkin Chiropractic Center notices that everybody
senses pain in somewhat different ways
and that they find certain types of pain more annoying than others
do. All of our Manahawkin chiropractic patients are distinctive!
THE HEALING “WAVE”
For 12 months, another study tracked
1124 neck pain patients seeing a chiropractor. Neck pain patients
having “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 the reason we tell
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 sign of
healing and pain relief. Manahawkin Chiropractic Center repeatedly tells our Manahawkin
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 regarding
the patterns of neck pain and back pain sufferers reflects
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. One researcher explained
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 resolution of pain. (4) Again, pain relief is rarely
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 Manahawkin Chiropractic Center
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 with
time.
Schedule your Manahawkin chiropractic
appointment now. Together, we’ll aim for
the calming wave of healing and celebrate the pain relief.
