Has your back pain lasted longer than three months? If so, then it has officially become chronic pain–persistent pain that lingers long after an injury should have healed. If you feel like you’ve tried everything and continue to suffer, chiropractic care for chronic pain could be the solution you need.
Chronic pain is a complicated and often misunderstood condition. Many people assume someone with chronic pain has an underlying injury or illness causing their pain–but in reality, chronic pain is a syndrome unto itself. And when there isn’t a clear physical cause for your pain, it can feel impossible to find relief.
Fortunately, chronic pain relief isn’t an impossibility–it just takes a little more work. And the chiropractors at Raynen Therapies are up to the task!
We’re a team of compassionate healthcare professionals who see you as a whole person and not just a set of pain symptoms. We’ll work closely with you to develop a customized treatment plan that suits your needs, ability and pain levels, and overall goals.
Together, we can help you manage your chronic pain, restore your mobility, and improve your quality of life.
To get started, schedule an appointment at our Scarborough clinic–and keep reading to learn more about chiropractic care for chronic pain!
What Is Chronic Pain, Anyway?
Everyone’s experienced physical pain at some point or another. Whether you hit your funny bone or tear a ligament in your shoulder, pain is your body’s way of telling you something’s wrong.
Most of the time, pain resolves when the injury or condition that causes it resolves. Imagine a paper cut: it stings at first, but after a few minutes, you only notice pain if you touch it. Soon, the paper cut heals, and you don’t have pain at all.
This type of pain is called acute pain–pain in the first couple of weeks after it starts. If your pain lasts less more three months, or the maximum time it takes for most injuries to heal, it may indicate something is physically wrong with the body. By addressing that impairment (and having a little bit of patience), acute pain takes care of itself.
But chronic pain is different. Experts define it as pain that lasts longer than three months–that is, longer than it takes for an injury to heal. But it’s actually more complicated than just lingering pain. Chronic pain is a complex syndrome that occurs when the pain centers in the brain continue to send messages out to your body–even though technically nothing’s wrong.
Furthermore, people with chronic pain experience more than just pain. The condition makes movement and exercise much more challenging, leading to additional symptoms such as the following:
- Stiffness and immobility
- Weakened muscles
- Decreased blood circulation
- Increased risk of high blood pressure and other metabolic conditions
- Increased anxiety, depression, and fearfulness
Many people do not understand chronic pain, what causes it, and its accompanying symptoms. People who suffer from chronic pain often find their complaints go unheard and their condition untreated. Many turn to drug medication in an attempt to manage their symptoms.
But there is a better solution: chiropractic care.
How Chiropractic Care Helps Manage Chronic Pain
The Raynen Therapies chiropractors know that your chronic pain isn’t “all in your head.” We’ll work with you to develop a customized care plan that addresses the pain in the short term while helping you resolve it in the long term.
We’ll begin with a comprehensive examination to help us better understand your condition. We’ll take a complete health history and perform a few simple movement screens to identify areas of impairment, such as posture, muscle weakness, and so on.
To help with immediate pain relief, our therapists will likely begin with a spinal adjustment. This classic technique is a foundation of chiropractic care and involves briefly thrusting your spinal joints through their current range of motion, usually resulting in an audible popping sound. Adjustments can help reduce pain and improve your spine’s mobility–making it easier for you to move overall.
Our chiropractors can also help you ensure your spine is in good alignment. Persistent pain can cause you to develop improper posture and body biomechanics as a way of avoiding painful movements. We’ll help you identify these impairments and work with you to correct them, allowing you to move more easily.
However, we also understand that you want to resolve your chronic pain for good. That’s why our chiropractors can also show you simple, gentle exercises to improve your range of motion and build strength. Although it may seem counterintuitive now, the more you move, the better you’ll feel in the long run. We’ll start slowly, working with you to gradually increase the intensity of your exercises as you improve.
Chiropractic Care for Chronic Pain Right Here in Scarborough
Chronic pain is often debilitating, and my people will suffer for years because they feel like they have no options. Chiropractic care for chronic pain is an option, however–one that can help you find lasting relief.
Don’t let chronic pain limit you in this life. Contact Raynen Therapies to request an appointment with one of our chiropractors today!
Sources:
- https://www.choosept.com/guide/physical-therapy-guide-chronic-pain
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6112063/
Tags: Chronic Pain, Chiropractic Care, Chiropractor, chronic pain management
