Pain can be managed in several different ways. Pain medication, ice, heat, topical sprays or creams, supplements, food, surgery, and supportive braces are just some of the ways to provide some pain relief. Some pain can be managed better than others and this may vary from person to person.
Some pain remedies do carry with them a certain element of risk. Pain medications like Tylenol or Advil can be harmful to the stomach and in some individuals may put them at risk for gastrointestinal bleeds or liver damage. Some have allergic reactions to these medications. Although these medications can be very helpful in relieving pain when using the appropriate dosage, some need further intervention.
Chiropractic care can be an effective tool to manage pain without the use of medication. Chiropractors will often combine hands on treatment to the muscles and joints with chiropractic joint manipulation. This form of chiropractic therapy can help reduce pain, improve mobility, and support healing without relying on medication. In addition, the use of modalities like laser therapy, ultrasound, heat, cold, taping, shockwave therapy and corrective exercises can be utilized to further the rehab process and help diminish your pain.
To understand how chiropractic care can aid in your pain relief, let us look at the 2 different forms of pain, acute and chronic pain.
A typical chiropractic patient presents with pain, usually in the low back, the most common area of complaint. Often, this pain is of an acute nature, meaning that it hasn’t been around for too long. To keep this simple, let us use the definition that defines acute pain as pain that has been present for less than 6 months. Acute pain comes on with an injury or illness and tends to be more severe at the onset and diminishes as the injury/illness heals.
Treatment of acute pain is typically straight forward. You just need to identify the right structure that is causing the pain, which sometimes can mean a bit of trial and error with various testing and treatment methods. Time may also need to be utilized in some cases as tissues need time to heal.
Chronic pain is the pain that lasts longer than 6 months, can be constant or intermittent, and can vary from mild to severe. Chronic pain may come on as a result of an injury or illness, but often it may present for no apparent reason. The pathophysiology is unclear and there are several theories on the development of chronic pain. Models on neuroplasticity, the ability for neuronal cells to change, have shown that prolonged nerve stimulation from painful stimuli can change the amount of area in the brain dedicated to the body part subjected to the painful stimulus. Now, when this particular area of the body is confronted with a painful stimulus, there is a heightened awareness (now more nerve cells dedicated to this area) resulting in more pain sensation. Other theories believe this overstimulation occurs at the level of the spinal cord, where the prolonged nerve stimulation going to the spinal cord results in lowering the threshold for information travelling further to the brain. Now, milder nerve stimulations break through the gate and are perceived as pain.
Chronic pain often needs to be addressed by a group of healthcare providers as it may stem from several sources, i.e. a physical injury with a psychological component. From a chiropractic standpoint, we can provide several treatment modalities to address the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, tendons), the joints and the nervous system. The latter being the most significant.
The chiropractic adjustment not only improves range of motion of the joint structure, but there is also a stimulation to the nervous system that occurs. The mechanoreceptor within the joint capsule is stimulated during an adjustment. This nerve now travels to the spinal cord and makes a connection in the dorsal horn and relays information on joint positional change. In addition, the contact on the skin when performing an adjustment, sends info on light touch. The muscles that are stretched also send information on muscle stimulation. Now the spinal cord is being bombarded with “other” neuronal activity.
Will this information be enough to reverse the chronic pain? Not right away, and not alone. But this is a start to making a change. And, this is why chronic pain is best addressed by multiple providers so the information going into the spinal cord or brain can produce a different output. The phrase “If we change the input, we will get a different output” really helps explain this point here.
I have summarized this information to explain chiropractic and chronic pain in the simplest way I felt that I can in order to make this concept understandable for the majority of our audience. I will go into more details in our first monthly health highlight for those interested in the technical components of pain modulation. If you are suffering from chronic pain, I encourage you to book a consultation with me to discuss your condition further. There are multiple pathways to a painfree lifestyle, we just need to find yours.