Have you ever felt different degrees of pain? I heard of a man who due to a repetitive motion stress injury caused severe pain in his hands. Even touching the keyboards of his computer was a struggle to him. To make things worse, the injury was intensifying and spreading out to his shoulder, neck and back.Normally, when we feel pain, fear begins to overtake us – right? However, the kind of pain this man experiences does not only evoke fear but also depression, anxiety, anger and irritability. Yet, looking at him, with all of the pain he was in, he appeared to be a healthy fellow.
That’s how pain is, a person looking at someone who is in pain may not be able to determine or measure the intensity of pain. A person with fibromyalgia for example, usually appears perfectly healthy on the surface.
In the United States alone, 10 percent of the population suffers from moderate to chronic pain and this becomes more prevalent as we age. New research shows, that seeing a chiropractor or engaging in light exercises may relieve pain more effectively than taking any form of pain medication such as aspirin, ibuprofen or any other over-the-counter pain relievers.
The new research published in The Annals of Internal Medicine has concluded that chiropractic care is a better option in addressing pain as compared to symptom relieving over the counter medicine . It may not relieve the pain instantaneously but overtime the pain is reduced and/or completely eliminated and it does not return.
These pains crop up without explanation and treatment options are varied. Because of this, Dr. Bronfort was inspired to carry out an analysis on this matter since there are only a few research studies devoted to this subject.
“There was a void in the scientific literature in terms of what the most helpful treatments are,” he said.”
“To find out, Dr. Bronfort and his colleagues recruited a large group of adults with neck pain that had no known specific cause. The subjects, 272 in all, were mostly recruited from a large HMO and through advertisements. The researchers then split them into three groups and followed them for about three months.”
“One group was assigned to visit a chiropractor for roughly 20-minute sessions throughout the course of the study, making an average of 15 visits. A second group was assigned to take common pain relievers like acetaminophen and — in some cases, at the discretion of a doctor — stronger drugs like narcotics and muscle relaxants. The third group met on two occasions with physical therapists who gave them instructions on simple, gentle exercises for the neck that they could do at home. They were encouraged to do 5 to 10 repetitions of each exercise up to eight times a day. (A demonstration of the exercises can be found atwww.annals.org).”
“After 12 weeks, the people in the non-medication groups did significantly better than those taking the drugs. About 57 percent of those who met with chiropractors and 48 percent who did the exercises reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain, compared to 33 percent of the people in the medication group.”
“A year later, when the researchers checked back in, 53 percent of the subjects who had received spinal manipulation still reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain, similar to the exercise group. That compared to just a 38 percent pain reduction among those who had been taking medication.”
Ultimately, Dr. Bronfort’s biggest realization is the fact that the sufferer himself must willingly and positively take part to his care in order to achieve better outcomes. Correct mindset coupled with the proper approach, are effective ways to reduce or eliminate any mild or chronic pain that an individual is trying to endure.
Article Source: well.blogs.nytimes
Author Bio:
Dr. Novick is the leading expert on Gluten Free Living. Dr. Novick takes the time to create an individual treatment plan tailored to your specific health needs using holistic, natural therapies such as homeopathy, bach flowers, functional medicine or chiropractic care which nurture the body’s innate health system, and address the root cause of each person’s individual health issues.
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