There’s nothing worse than waking up every day with the same sharp pain in your back or neck. Sadly, this is a problem that plagues countless Americans. According to Mayo Clinic, three in every ten people experience some sort of pain on a daily basis.
Chronic pain has numerous causes. For some, these aches are a side effect of an injury or a pre-existing condition. For others, it’s a change in daily routine or even stress. However, regardless of the underlying cause, chronic pain can make life unbearable or, in severe cases, downright impossible.
How to Manage Chronic Pain
Fortunately, all hope is not lost if you are dealing with chronic pain. You can take several practical steps to relieve some of the aches that come with your daily routine.
1-Stretch
Daily stretching is a fantastic way to ease your everyday aches and pains. When you stretch your muscles, you’re engaging your parasympathetic nervous system, resulting in increased blood flow to the affected area and a release of built-up tension.
Remember to stretch your whole body. All of your muscles are connected in ways that you might not expect. You might discover that stretching your legs helps to loosen up your neck and upper back.
2-Stay Hydrated
When dehydrated, your body sucks fluids out of your soft tissues (muscles, cartilage, tendons), causing pain all over the body. To combat these aches, make sure you’re drinking enough water every day. Four liters should be more than enough to keep your tissue soft and pliable.
3-Relax
Prolonged stress can wreak havoc on the body. For example, it can cause your natural cortisol level to rise, leading to inflammation and pain. For this reason, It’s essential that you take time each day to relax and decompress mentally.
4-Stay Active
In many cases, chronic pain is your body’s way of telling you it’s not being used in the way it wants. For many, a change in career or lifestyle means that they don’t use the same muscle groups that they used to, gradually leading to a state of inactivity and, eventually, pain.
To combat this phenomenon, try to engage in activities or exercises that activate your weakening muscles. You don’t need to go crazy with the workouts; you’re just trying to prevent them from going dormant.
5-Seek Treatment
If you’ve tried everything in your power to eliminate your chronic pain, and still the problem persists, it may be time to seek the help of a professional. A chiropractic therapist may prescribe one or a combination of the following treatments.
- Active resistance technique (ART)- The ART technique uses muscle manipulation to break down existing scar tissue. ART can help to minimize muscle spasms helping to prevent further build-up from forming and inflammation post-injury.
- Spinal manipulative therapy- This method involves a combination of massaging, manipulating, and applying controlled thrusts to the synovial joints to increase the range of motion that typically stiffens after a soft tissue injury.
- Rehabilitation exercise therapy- This process employs spinal exercises and stretches to strengthen muscles and stimulate the regrowth of soft tissue after an injury.
Chronic Pain Relief in Irving, Texas
If you’re suffering from chronic back or neck pain and are seeking needed relief, please don’t hesitate to seek professional medical treatment. Here at Spine Health and Wellness, our chiropractic experts specialize in treating pain whether you know the root cause of the issue or not. Why not request an appointment today? We’ll pair you up with an experienced therapist who can organize a comprehensive treatment plan to have you feeling your best in no time.