The Chronic Pain Cycle & How to Escape
What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is pain that lasts weeks, months, or even several years and can happen in any part of the body. This type of pain can also be debilitating and a fierce cycle. Lack of sleep, stress, reduced mobility, restricted daily activities, and reduced quality of life are just a few of the ways chronic pain can interrupt your life.
What is the Chronic Pain Cycle?
Pain is your introduction to the pain cycle, it is the body’s first alarm. Then the nerves that signal your pain also indicate an injury has happened, this causes the muscles to tighten up and create a protective response called “muscle guarding.” The longer you are injured and your muscles are guarded, it creates loss in range of motion and your body gets used to not using the joints and muscles. This is where the saying “if you don’t use it, you lose it” comes into play, muscle guarding and restricted mobility has lasted too long and muscles become weak and become smaller. Decreased function means we begin to limit our day-to-day activities. Because the injured area is stiff and sore, we begin to not use it like we should becoming less active and having less energy. Due to the continued pain, guarding and restricted mobility, emotional stresses can then develop. Stress, frustration, and depression are just a few emotional stresses. The sad reality is as these emotional and mental stresses snowball, they increase the stress and tension in our body and lower our motivation. This leads to continued pain and increases the muscle guarding and the continuation of the pain cycle. Left untreated, it becomes a continual downward spiral.
How to Escape the Chronic Pain Cycle
We have to break the cycle at the source! Minimize and reduce the pain where it first occurred, the injury. While doing this we need to reintroduce and restore proper motion. Midwest Pain Solutions focuses on the root cause of your chronic pain.
How Midwest Pain Solutions is Different
One of the best ways to manage chronic pain is to find means that help the area to have less swelling and to heal, versus masking pain with long-term medication use. Though medication can help you to manage your experience of pain, it won’t heal the source of the pain. High-intensity laser therapy, chiropractic care, and extracorporeal shockwave therapy do both — they help to reduce pain, swelling, and promote healing through greater blood circulation.
Though each person’s journey with chronic pain is different, it is possible to find a treatment plan that can help you experience pain relief, healing, and a greater quality of life. At Midwest Pain Solutions, we customize care plans utilizing high-intensity laser therapy, chiropractic manipulation, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, and more! Call (920) 569-2350 to schedule your no-cost consultation with Dr. Jackson Draeger today!
