Pain Free Productivity
Understanding Chronic Back Pain. Your Fuse to Lost Productivity.
Living with chronic pain is an immensely challenging experience. It can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You stop feeling like yourself, inspiration walks out the front door and fatigue can set in heavy.
To understand your condition or someone you know who has been experiencing the trials of chronic back pain, here are some statistics. Up to 20% of the general adult population suffers from back pain. Of those suffering, 1 in 4 of those are dealing with chronic back pain and problems ranging from recurring back pain to severe and disabling spinal problems. All who are in the disabling pain category have highly limited productivity. In fact many of these people are unable to work or have limited ability to earn a regular income. Some are fortunate and have established businesses and caregivers that help them overcome some of their difficulties. For many it’s a prescription for painkillers and a shortened lifespan.
Fortunately for most back pain sufferers, lost productivity only shows up in much more subtle ways. It’s like a fuse, burning to the dynamite. However the insidious loss of initiative, lack lustre efforts, saying no to daily life experiences begins to isolate the person in pain. This person becomes withdrawn and depressed in many situations. This leads to worsened productivity at work and with personal and family life.
I understand, having helped thousands of patients recover from back pain. It’s no easy task by itself. Expert advice and treatment is often the road to recovery. Pain free productivity isn’t unattainable and it doesn’t require copious amounts of painkillers either. With the right techniques, energy and vibrancy can once again be yours.
5 Core Strategies to Move Beyond Pain
1.Establish the REAL cause of pain.
Create a detailed assessment and diagnosis from as many health professionals as it takes. This part of the journey can be most challenging. Don’t give up, with every piece of the puzzle you get one step closer to seeing the bigger picture.
The key here is to be completely honest with yourself and your medical/alternative practitioners. Address your real or perceived fears all the what ifs, medication dependency, past surgeries, medical history. This is just one piece of the puzzle.
Emotional and psychological issues can also create lingering pain in the body. If we’re under a lot of stress this will exacerbate the bodies inflammatory response. Many alternative practitioners can offer helpful techniques for dealing with the emotional aspect of chronic pain.
2. Treat the underlying cause of pain with a variety of corrective measures
There is no quick fix, no magic pill, no one thing is going to cure chronic pain. The gaping hole in modern medicine is the failure to look at the bigger picture. The quick fix offered by allopathic medicine in the form of pain meds has a time and place, but that isn’t in the long term. You know it, I know it, now we can explore the alternatives to pain medication. We need to address pain holistically, and when we do it’s a game changer.
Chiropractic
I’ve seen people overcome debilitating pain through my practice. It never ceases to amaze me how positive the long term positive influence that chiropractic has. Better alignment means more than just your bones being where they should be. It means more energy, mobility, less pain and so much more.
Exercise Therapy
Movement is so important. Many people assume that regular exercise will make their pain worse. This couldn’t be more opposite of the truth. Get moving, even if its just a daily walk or swim. Over time this helps reduce inflammation and increase stamina and energy.
Stretching and Mobility
When you’re in pain, your muscles often compensate, causing greater pain. Relaxing the muscles and easing tension helps to reduce stress and reduce pain. Over time as your body starts to open you will become stronger and softer at the same time. Practices like yoga and particularly restorative or yin yoga if you are particularly tight can work wonders at reducing chronic pain.
Nutrition and Supplements
In order to reduce inflammation you need to stop eating inflammatory or overly acidic foods. Basically, junk food, fried, overly processed, sugar and refined carbohydrates are the worst culprits.
Stick with fresh, lots of greens, high quality protein and antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables. A little dark chocolate just happens to reduce stress and provide plenty of antioxidants.
3. Measure success by results that provide lasting measurable improvements
It’s important to give everything a fair shot. You’re not going to get instant results with the natural techniques listed above. That being said, if you’ve tried something wholeheartedly for awhile don’t be afraid to try something new.
Keep a journal to document changes along the way. You might be surprised when you go back and see where you began. Quantify your pain score daily with a scale from 1-10, if it isn’t reducing over the course of a few months it might be time to seek a different set of tools.
4. Lifestyle choices that work to serve your goals and desired results
Understanding the role that long term stress plays when it comes to the bodies inflammatory response is critical. Most of us are under chronic stress. It’s the way of the world. We can meet our lives demands without falling victim to the bonds of stress. Finding activities that help fight the negative effects, doing things we enjoy, meditating and taking time for ourselves are all good techniques.
5. Finding a new balance
Perfection doesn’t exist. Maintaining good health is all about balance. Healing does not always result in a pain free state. It results in a new balance that the body, mind and Spirit can live in harmony with naturally.
Your body is always and perpetually trying to heal and normalize. The key thing our bodies need from us is how to simplify and de-clutter the noise and interference. When we can do this an innate intelligence kicks in to facilitate healing from within.
How do you boost your productivity? Let us know in the comments below.
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