Did you know that physical therapy and exercise can significantly improve your chronic pain? Studies show that exercise is significantly effective in reducing chronic pain compared to medication or other non-exercise treatments. It provides us with many health benefits. Learn how exercise can relieve and manage chronic pain in this article. Visit the best Pain Management Clinic in Brooklyn at Doral Health & Wellness or log on to www.doralhw.org.
The link between exercise and pain relief
Many studies have found that exercise can give you many health benefits such as boosting your mental health, weight management, reduced disease risk, and stronger bones and muscles. It also shows that physical activity can lower the risk of developing chronic pain and assist in managing existing chronic pain. So, if you are suffering from chronic pain, you can enjoy many benefits of exercise and physical activity such as:
- Builds strong muscles: Physical activity can prevent muscular atrophy (decrease or wasting muscle tissue) which helps to reduce pain by building strong muscles and improving flexibility.
- Lower fatigue: Physical activity also reduces fatigue, which is a common symptom of many chronic pain conditions and increases overall energy levels.
- Improves sleep: A meta-analysis research study found that physical activity significantly improves sleep quality.
- Lower pain sensitivity: Some research found exercise effectively lowers pain sensitivity compared to non-exercise training treatments. It happens because exercise changes your brain’s response to pain by normalizing the pain signal and promoting the release of endorphins like serotonin and body-natural pain relievers which turn off the pain signals and improve your boost.
- Lower inflammation: When you do physical activity, your muscles can release chemicals that prevent pain signals from going to your brain and promote the immune system’s anti-inflammatory cytokines which promote tissue healing and reduce inflammation.
- Lower depression and anxiety and improve mood: Around 80 to 90% of people with chronic pain suffer from mood disruption due to pain. However, physical activity can improve your mood by blocking off pain signals to the brain.
Research suggests that exercise is also effective in reducing pain for difficult-to-treat conditions like fibromyalgia and neck/shoulder pain.
That’s why doctors prescribe aerobic and strengthening exercises with medications to manage your symptoms and reduce pain. The most important thing is to keep moving even a little. When you are looking for the right exercise plan for you, choose the exercise you enjoy with the guidance of a healthcare provider for the best results.
Doctors have not reached an agreement on how much exercise to recommend for various chronic pain problems. The common consensus is that movement, no matter how minor, is beneficial. Certain parameters must be followed in order for a fitness plan to be beneficial to chronic pain sufferers. The most important ones are listed briefly below:
- using a “start low, go slow” strategy.
- Reduce the danger of falls by modifying the exercise under expert supervision
- ensuring good posture
- using a range of motion that does not exacerbate pain
- Be conscious of your fitness and stamina levels.
- Take proper medical advice whenever necessary.
- Rest properly at regular intervals.
- Keep track of your progress regularly.
5 workouts to ease chronic pain
Here are the best 5 workouts to ease your chronic pain and improve your overall health:
- Walking:
For beginners, walking is the best natural exercise you can start with. Start slowly for 30 minutes or less; 3 to 5 times per week according to your health and gradually increase. This can increase your strength, endurance, heart health, and overall energy levels. You can also increase the flexibility of muscles and joints, which helps to reduce chronic pain.
- Swimming or water aerobics:
Water aerobics, also known as aqua therapy, is one of the best exercise alternatives to walking, for people with mobility issues. This is a low-impact cardiovascular exercise in water that can reduce the amount of force you need to apply from your joints and allow muscles to move in many directions which increases blood flow to the heart, reduces your chronic pain, and improves your mood. Similarly, swimming is also a wonderful way to strengthen your muscles and joints and clear your mind.
- Strength training exercises:
Strength training is the best way to build strength, stabilize the joints, and prevent future injuries. If you are living with chronic pain, adequate core strength is particularly important to maintain proper posture and balance and reduce the risk of injuries (which further leads to more pain).
Strength training should focus on the abdomen, hips, and back muscles for better core strength and stability. An exercise session can last from 30 minutes to 1 hour including pushups, dumbbell presses, bench presses, arm extensions, pull-downs, and leg presses by creating 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for each exercise. Keep in mind to increase weight gradually and work out under professional supervision to prevent injury risk.
- Stretching:
Stretching is one of the best ways to significantly improve the flexibility of your muscles, joints, and ligaments and protect you from pain flare-ups from repeated episodes of chronic pain. Having chronic pain in the lower back or neck, stretching can lower stiffness and tension. While you can ask for the best stretching exercises from your healthcare provider for your chronic condition, here are two equipment-free stretches for your back and neck to improve overall mobility and ease your movement.
- Relaxation exercise:
These exercises allow people to live with chronic pain by building a strong mind-body connection to manage the pain. As our mind and body are connected, controlling our thoughts and feelings can also help to manage our physical pain. Visualization is the best way to do it because it doesn’t require any equipment and can be done anywhere. Here is the best visualization technique with deep breathing.
- Rest on your back or in another comfortable position on the bed or floor.
- Place your hands on your stomach and relax your shoulders and feet.
- Close your eyes, take a deep breath from your nose, and exhale it through your mouth, making sure you release all the air.
- Continue breathing this way, and feel your stomach rise under your fingertips with each breath.
- Continue this pattern and visualize that pain is leaving your body with each breath.
- Repeat this exercise every evening before bed or throughout the day when needed.
Exercise and chronic pain management are very intricately linked because exercise provides us with many health benefits including relieving stress, strengthening muscles and joints, improving sleep, releasing happy and pain-relieving hormones, improving mobility, and overall energy levels, and reducing the risk of future injuries. That’s why you should create and follow an exercise plan to manage your chronic pain and improve your quality of life.
If you need help with your pain problems, visit our pain management clinic in Brooklyn, where great doctors listen to your concerns and treat you in the best way possible to provide relief for your pain. Visit Doral Health & Wellness Pain Relief Department in Brooklyn, to get professional help and guidance on how to manage your problem. Call us on + 1-718-367-2555 to get a consultation. If you need help learning coping methods, register your information and make direct contact with our doctors at https://yuz88hfiyh7.typeform.com/Doralintake. Log on to www.doralhw.org. Or visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.
