Exercise and Pain
By Dr. Joshua Kiely, DC
A patient of mine, we’ll call them Sue, came into the chiropractic clinic this week with some new back pain. The back pain started one morning and left Sue stiff and sore while trying to put on her shoes and sit at her desk. Right away, Sue stopped her gym workouts and rested the injury, but the pain still lingered.
When I saw Sue it had been about 10 days since the onset of her back pain. The pain was improving slowly, but Sue was getting antsy about exercising again - she wanted to get back in the gym but was worried about exercising with pain. Sue asked me what she should do.
Today’s blog will cover some of the main points that Sue and I discussed in our conversation about pain and exercise.
Exercise can help with pain
There are mountains of research showing that exercise can help people manage their pain effectively. People often feel better while they are moving, and post-exercise, pain severity often remains lower compared to no exercise at all. The Canadian government recognizes the importance of daily physical activity and regularly updates their guidelines with tips and recommendations on how to maintain fitness over our lifetime! Check out https://csepguidelines.ca/ for more info on that.
At the end of Sue’s chiropractic appointment we had her try a few different exercises and sent her home with a short circuit of movements to help with her pain and get her moving again. Check out this blog for details on how to get moving again.
Strength and conditioning can reduce risk of injury
Sue used to have frequent neck and back pain, but this is the first new episode in a long time. After our first time meeting we came up with a plan to help with Sue’s strength and conditioning. She lifts weights twice a week and walks or bikes nearly every day with the dog or the kids.
By staying active, getting stronger, and taking control of her own health, Sue has reduced her frequency of injury. This has saved Sue money and time - she doesn’t need to seek treatment nearly as often for bouts of pain.
As the cherry on top, we suspect Sue will recover very fast from this episode of back pain because her body is robust and resilient thanks to her strength and conditioning.
Chiropractic care can be more than just adjustments
Sue should be good to go in a couple of weeks. She has exercises to help with pain at home and after the appointment she let me know she’d return to the gym and lift some weights to see how it goes.
We created a workout for her that will have her squat, lunge, hinge, and carry something heavy. She left the clinic with instructions to book in if she needed a bit more hands-on care in a week or two and to check in via email in 2 weeks with an update.
The SpineOttawa approach is comprehensive healthcare
The SpineOttawa approach to health is creating robust individuals through education, empowerment, and encouragement. By listening, we can help patients identify any barriers to success and work together to overcome them and get back to the things in life that matter most. We want healthy patients, not broken patients who feel like they need to come back every week for treatment if they don’t want to.
To learn more about how we approach follow-up appointments and what it means check out last month’s blog.
If you’ve got a nagging injury or are interested in ways you might be able to improve your health, please feel welcome to reach out. SpineOttawa offers virtual sessions for exercise prescription and workout plans (covered by chiropractic benefits), clinic appointments in Westboro, and house call appointments in the West end of Ottawa and Carleton Place.
