Chronic Pain

If you suffer from chronic pain, sometimes improving is as simple as getting a new perspective on the term “chronic.” If you’ve been labeled as chronic, then you know how devastating that can feel. And if you labeled yourself as chronic, then you can also be stuck in a cycle that is perpetuated by that very title, “chronic.” The general rule in the medical world is that if you have had pain for over 3-6 months, then it is considered chronic. Our definition of chronic pain at Exercise Progression is as follows and is also widely accepted by experts;

 Chronic pain is “pain persisting longer than the natural course of healing associated with a particular type of injury or pathology.”   

 This last definition does something very important for you. It actually explains the underlying reason why you are not getting any better. The reason is that the natural healing course is constantly being interrupted! The term “natural” implies that you are not doing things to aggravate the situation and you are giving the painful area a good environment to heal in. Well what if you have low back pain and you work a job that repeatedly requires you to bend, twist and lift heavy objects? That is definitely NOT a healing environment. So as long as you work that job, you can’t possibly have chronic pain because the natural course of healing never takes place. You will be stuck in a repetitive sub-acute cycle (it starts with acute, then goes to sub-acute, and finally chronic), and the treatment plan for sub-acute populations is very different than for chronic populations.  

Chronic situations call for more physically aggressive programs than sub-acute protocols because of the advanced “healing” that has taken place in the older chronic injury. But if you are misdiagnosed as chronic when you are really sub-acute, and you engage in a chronic protocol, then you are very susceptible to overworking the area and injuring it even more. Or even more common, overworking it and keeping it in a chronic state of pain. Hmmm, interesting isn’t it?

Our goal at Exercise Progression is to work with your diagnosis and focus on what makes your pain worse, and what makes it better. We’ve learned that if you consistently do more of what makes it better than what makes it worse, you will get better, every time. We do not care about sets and reps in the gym. We care if you can go through all aspects of life while allowing your natural healing cycle to progress uninterrupted. If that means teaching you how to operate in the gym, at home, in the office, in the plane, car, walking the dog, everywhere and anywhere, then that’s what your program will focus on. It is not unusual to spend the first few weeks practicing the best ways to cook, clean, sit, stand, lift, twist and shout. And you know what? That is what it takes to heal most pain. There is no such thing as magic exercises that cure pain. The magic is in what you do daily and most importantly what you DON’T do daily.

If you found this info searching for answers and have read this far, take the next step and contact us so we can show you how to go through life without interrupting your natural healing process.

We look forward to the opportunity of helping you in any way we can.

 Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

 

Stress Management for Chronic Low Back Pain

In clinics and Dr.’s offices alike, it is all too common to see bouts of low back pain coincide with times of great stress. And this makes sense as stress is well known to increase muscle tension and decreases the body’s ability to handle normal activities, such as slouching, picking up a pencil, taking out the trash, and a host of other events that seem to be the last straw that breaks your back. A critical element for healing your low back pain is learning to relax the muscles and tissues surrounding it. The technique below is a great tool for relaxing the entire body and spine.

        A key element here is using your mind to reduce low back pain. Whether we like it or not, we cannot separate mind from body. The mind-body connection is always present and is either hurting or helping you at any given moment. This technique will arm you with a powerful and proven method that trains the mind to heal low back pain and any other area you wish to focus on.

      There is a well known fact about breathing; if you are stressed, your breathing is out of balance. The beauty of this is the opposite fact; if you are relaxed, your breathing is calm and follows a natural rhythm. So remember, as long as you are breathing naturally, it is impossible to be stressed! Proper breathing is proven to increase oxygen throughout the entire body, calm your nervous system and relax your muscles. No drugs. No tricks. Just breathing with a focus of being in the moment.

      It is recommended to read the following directions first into a tape recorder so you can listen to them and enhance your relaxation.

      This is just one of many relaxation techniques. Please remember it takes a journey filled with dedication, faith, consistency and discipline to change habits of stress and pain.

Relaxation Technique: SINKING DEEP INTO THE SEA

• Find a comfortable position that you can stay in for at least 10 minutes. It can be lying or sitting and you can use pillows and props to keep your spine straight and comfortable.
• Softly close your eyes and guide your attention inward. Note how the body feels and where you are storing tension right now.
• Smoothly, take a big breath and notice how the chest and abdomen gently move up and down with your breath. Continue observing your breath as you relax your neck and shoulders, and slowly sink deeper into your body.
• Now imagine you are at sea, and there is a big, noisy, dark storm all around you. You are bobbing in the ocean with giant waves and just your head is above the water. Nobody else is around. This storm, is life. It represents all of the chaos that surrounds you on a daily basis. Deadlines, traffic, arguments, bills, and more.
• Get back to your breath now, and settle into your breathing. Visualize sinking down into that ocean and under the water. Keeping your attention on your breath, observe how as you sink deeper you can still see the chaos above in the storm of life, but it is not so vivid anymore.
• You are becoming calmer as you sink deeper into the ocean and your body with every breath. The storm is still there, but you are observing it from a new place now. As you slowly sink to the deepest part of your body and the ocean, you find that it is totally peaceful and quiet. You can feel your heartbeat and are one with the natural rhythms of your body. You are aware of every cell in your body.
• You are now sitting at the bottom of the ocean, where your true self can be found. Looking in the far distance you can see the storm and chaos of life, but they do not seem so chaotic anymore. They are merely there, not affecting you any more than a storm on the other side of the globe.
• You now are in a place that empowers you to choose what affects you, and what doesn’t. Instead of reacting to life and letting it shape your every molecule, now you can shape yourself through awareness of the storm and where you stand in it. 
• Thinking of your body as the ocean, and the storm as life’s chaos, visualize the journey you just took to the center of yourself. With every breath you can sink deeper into yourself and away from the influence of outside distractions. Welcome home. This is where you will find all the answers to what makes you happy and healthy. 
• This is where you are truly you and the only thing that can influence your behavior is your own free will.

Detrimental Factors to Improving Chronic Pain

If you have certain factors in your life, it is harder to get better. And the more of them that you have in your life, the harder it is.

Here are some of the most powerful factors that can impede progress on your way to recovery.

• You are only in pre or contemplation stage on the Readiness to Change scale.
• Family, friends, and or spouse are non-supportive.
• Sedentary lifestyle.
• Low back pain makes you feel depressed.
• You have a fear of reinjury.
• Your expectation for improvement is low.
• You blame yourself for the pain.
• You feel entitled to a pain-free lifestyle.
• Your medical exam is lacking in comprehensiveness.
• You tend to exaggerate the situation (catastrophizing).
• You perceive most things as a potential danger to your pain.
• You stress a lot over your pain.

If you need help with any of these, please contact us at www.exerciseprogression.com