For many, ocean waves are calming. For Ashburn 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 will come and go while healing, the wave of
healing can be frustrating. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn helps our
patients appreciate the wave of healing, recognize the research behind our relieving treatment plan, and celebrate
the pain relief they experience.
DESCRIBING AND RATING PAIN
Since back and neck pain experiences are complete
with fluctuations of symptoms as they get better,
researchers tried to come up with a method
to classify neck pain patients and their pain patterns by tracking
1208 neck pain patients. They produced 16 subgroups! Wow.
The largest 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 defining 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 quite similar in explaining
the pain intensity but not as much for the symptoms and their
characteristics. (2) Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn observes that everybody
feels pain in somewhat different ways
and that they find certain sorts of pain more annoying than others
do. All of our Ashburn chiropractic patients are unique!
THE HEALING “WAVE”
For 12 months, another study tracked
1124 neck pain patients seeing a chiropractor. Neck pain patients
experiencing “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 tell
our back and neck pain patients that recovery is more like a wave
than a straight line. While healing, pain comes and goes.
Going away more than it comes is a solid signal of
healing and pain relief. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn reminds our Ashburn
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 described here regarding
the patterns of neck pain and back pain sufferers emphasizes
the on-going need for them to have team members like their
chiropractors along with general practitioners to handle
it, understand it, and care for it. A 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 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 slow and steady with treatment,
coming/going pain intensity, patience, and appreciation for the relief gotten
be it 50%, 70% or 90% as supported by the 50% Rule of Cox®
Technic.
CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. John Murray on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he presents patient
cases that were difficultcomplex and yet attained
relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management over
time.
Schedule your Ashburn chiropractic
appointment today. Together, we’ll work toward
the calming wave of healing and celebrate the pain relief.
