Friday, May 10, 2019

The secret to a pain free life is...

Do you feel like you are on a tightrope and one misstep will trigger your painThis month we are diving deeper into the pain management continuum, to the origin of why most people experience pain.
Balance is the key
The secret to a pain free life is balance. Each person’s life has many demands that pull or knock us, in many directions. These include responsibilities of family caregiving, career demands, recreation, and fitness pursuits, so it’s easy to see how our health became a low priority. The usual story is that a person feels “mostly fine”, begins to notice something “different” when moving or doing an activity, and then “something’s terribly wrong!” A part of our body starts to jab or scream at us to let us know, “Hey, this is a problem, do something about this!” 

This is when people feel they are walking on a tight rope and don’t know where they are headed. It’s extremely difficult to maintain your balance when you can’t look at where the path is leading.  The purpose of this continuum is to show your options and empower you to make the right decision for you to get back to balanced and pain free.
Pain Management Continuum
To achieve freedom from pain in a balanced way you have to get to the right provider. They must explain what the physical and mechanical factors are that are causing your problem. This concept of what you ask your body to do vs. what your body can handle is fundamental. This applies to your whole body but also each individual joint and muscle. Click here for a brief video on this topic.

Freedom from pain

On the “ask our body to do” side we have your daily activities, habits, work position, repetitive motions or sports. On the “ability” side we have ability to function, including movement, and strength. When we are out of balance the “ask our body to do” side will be overloaded. This overload leads to muscle adhesion and functional restriction with movement. Eventually this overloaded area becomes a problem, gradually worsening until it hurts, “Hey, this is a problem, do something about this!”

To solve the problem, first we need to restore the health and function to the overused muscles and joints. Only then can we add specific and simple exercises to balance strength. After restoring function, all that is left is to understand how to maintain the balance given the demands on our body and any limitations in structure or function. For you to be healthy, you need to have a surplus “ability” of what your body can handle when compared to what you are “asking it to do”. 

Our job at Rochester Spine + Sports Chiropractic is to be the best we can be at providing exactly what you need to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. If that is the destination you have in mind as you walk your tightrope of life, I am the expert you seek, call now 678-1362, for your consultation