Five Lifestyle Changes To Help Alleviate Chronic Back Pain

February 24, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

For a number of patients with chronic back pain, some of their everyday actions end up making their pain worse, even if they don’t realize it in the moment. It’s easy to overlook some of the contributing factors to chronic back pain, but once you’ve identified them, you’d be amazed at how much help a few lifestyle tweaks can do for your pain. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at five lifestyle changes that can help alleviate chronic back pain.

Lifestyle Adjustments To Prevent And Treat Chronic Back Pain

Here are five little adjustments you can make throughout the day or add to your daily routine that can make a world of difference in helping you overcome your condition.

1. Move More – Sitting puts a lot of stress on your lower spine, which is the most common location for chronic back pain. Do less sitting and more moving. Limit your time on the couch in front of the television, and consider standing more or investing in a sit-to-stand workstation at the office. Excess standing can be just as harmful to your spine as too much sitting, so try to switch it up throughout the day, especially if soreness is starting to creep in.

2. Regular Posture Checks – Our heads are heavy, and if they aren’t in alignment with our shoulders, you can end up putting a lot of strain on your cervical spine. If you’re slouching on the couch or hunched forward looking at your computer screen, you might develop a case of “tech neck.” Perform regular posture checks throughout the day and make adjustments as needed.

3. Let Your Diet Work For You Instead Of Against You – A bad diet can oftentimes serve to make back pain worse, whereas a healthy diet can act as its own kind of medication. Carbohydrate-dense foods and sugary snacks can contribute to inflammation in the spine, which can compress key nerves and structures and make back pain worse. Conversely, a healthy diet full of vegetables, fish, nuts and fruit can help prevent inflammation and ensure your body gets nutrients that are necessary for healthy tissue growth and function. Rework your diet, and your back may start feeling better.

4. Stress Relief – Whenever we tell patients to de-stress, it always sounds easier in words than it is in practice. It would be great if we could remove stress from our lives, but if you’re juggling work, family and a social life, stress in inevitable. If you can’t find ways to minimize stress, find ways to manage it when it develops. Healthy outlets for stress can have physical benefits for your body. Whether it’s reading, yoga or meditation, find a healthy outlet for your stress.

5. Rethink Exercise – Finally, we challenge you to rethink your exercise routine if you have chronic back pain. You don’t need to go through a grueling gym routine in order to reap the benefits of exercise, so start small and build up to a sustainable exercise routine. Go for a walk around your block, swim some laps at the local swimming pool or do a yoga class with a friend. Over time, build up your distance or duration, as this will help to slowly strengthen key muscles groups that support your spine. Don’t be intimated by exercise because you think you need to lift heavy weights or run a certain number of miles. Set small, attainable goals and work up from there.

If you do these five things, we’re confident you’ll have more control over your chronic back pain condition. And for professional assistance to your chronic pain issue, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

The Benefits Of Walking If You Have Chronic Pain

February 14, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Exercise and movement are two common treatment recommendations for patients with certain types of chronic pain conditions, but regular exercise isn’t always easy to achieve if chronic pain makes movement painful. You may not be able to run a few miles or do a rotation at the gym, and because of this, you might opt to shy away from exercise even though it’s exactly what your body needs. At times like this, it’s important to remember that any type of exercise can be beneficial. Even just walking for 10-15 minutes can be great for your pain condition and your whole body.

Don’t think walking can do that much good? Below, we take a closer look at the benefits of walking if you have chronic pain.

Why You Should Walk If You Have Chronic Pain

Here’s a look at just some of the benefits of walking if you’re dealing with a chronic pain condition like arthritis or fibromyalgia.

Blood Flow And Circulation – Walking gets the heart pumping and healthy blood flowing through your body. Structures rely on this oxygenated blood to get nutrients they need to function properly. This also helps to remove lactic acid in the joints that can contribute to pain and discomfort.

Muscle Development – Walking may not seem like an overly strenuous activity, but it requires a number of muscles to work regularly. Your core muscles are used when you’re walking, and a strong core can help you fend off chronic back pain, because when your core can handle more stress, it takes pressure off your spine.

Fat Reduction – Regularly walking can help you lose weight and decrease adipose tissue in the body. This adipose tissue is pro-inflammatory, which means you’re less likely to suffer from inflammation and related issues if you have less adipose tissue in your body. Weight loss also helps to reduce the strain you put on your knees, hips and feet when you walk.

Increased Synovial Fluid – Movement and exercise in the form of walking can also help aid in the production of synovial fluid, which helps to lubricate your joints and make movement easier, which is especially helpful if a joint problem is causing your chronic pain.

Endorphin Release – Walking and other forms of exercise can release chemicals in your brain that help to drown out pain signals, making discomfort less noticeable and more bearable.

Reduce Anxiety – Walking can also have a calming effect on the brain, reducing anxiety and stress, which can be chronic pain triggers.

This is just a short list of reasons why you should consider walking if you’re working to overcome a chronic pain condition. It’s a low-impact exercise that can really help you win out over chronic pain, and you don’t need any specialized equipment.

For more individualized help for overcoming your chronic pain condition, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

More Patients Seeking Chronic Pain Treatments Without Opioids

February 11, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

A growing number of US adults with chronic pain are pursuing a combination of non-drug and non-opioid approaches to control and treat their condition, which is an encouraging sign.

As we’ve talked about on the blog in the past, pain medications can play an important role in a comprehensive chronic pain treatment program, but oftentimes other active treatments provide more benefits and do not pose the same risks as potentially-addictive pain opioids. A recent poll found that 55 percent of adults with chronic pain used pain management techniques that did not involve any opioids at all over the surveyed three-month period. 11 percent of respondents used both opioids and non-opioid techniques, and only four percent said they only used opioids for chronic pain management. However, 30 percent of patients with chronic pain said they did not pursue any pain management techniques over the three-month period.

Other Chronic Pain Findings

Here’s a closer look at some of the findings from the survey:

Complementary therapies were the most commonly used non-opioid pain management technique (35% of adults), followed by physical, occupational or rehabilitative therapies (19%).

5% of patients pursued self-management programs, 4% underwent cognitive behavioral therapy, and 2% sought out peer support groups.

39 percent of adults said they pursued non-opioid chronic pain treatments that weren’t expressly mentioned by the survey.

Participants using complementary and psychological or psychotherapeutic interventions were more likely to be younger women with more education.

Prescription opioid use for chronic pain management was more common among older adults between the ages of 45 and 64 years compared to those aged 18 to 44 years (19% vs 8%).

Prescription opioid use was also more common among women than men (17% vs. 13%), in adults with health insurance compared to those without (16% vs. 6%) and in those with a high school education than those with more than a high school education (17% vs. 14%)

Prescription opioid use was less common among people making more than $100,000 than those making less than $35,000 (9% vs. 20%)

Researchers concluded that the findings were a step in the right direction for curbing the national opioid crisis, and it shows that more patients are working to pursue alternative and active chronic pain treatments instead of over relying on opioids that oftentimes simply mask symptoms instead of treating the underlying issue.

It’s great that so many people are working to take a vested interest in their health and really pursue different treatments instead of just taking pain medications. Opioids can make movements less painful and make it easier for patients to pursue certain active treatments, but there are numerous studies that have found some risks associated with long-term opioid use. The results are encouraging, but nearly one in three people with chronic pain aren’t seeking any type of treatment for their pain, and that number is still far too large. If you know someone with chronic pain, encourage them to connect with a specialist, because oftentimes symptoms can be reduced or even eliminated!

For more information, or for help with your chronic pain issue, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

The Duality Of Chronic Pain Treatment

February 3, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

For a number of health conditions, the focus is mostly or solely on the physical condition. For example, if you break your arm or sprain your ankle, treatment will be focused on providing a healthy environment for these physical injuries to heal. The physical injury gets the brunt of our attention because it is typically the catalyst for our discomfort. If we address the underlying problem, everything can get back to normal sooner.

However, that’s not typically the case with chronic pain. Chronic pain can certainly have a physical trigger, but oftentimes there is also a significant mental burden as well that needs to be managed in order to successfully treat the chronic pain condition. Only focusing on the physical cause of pain or the brain’s interpretation of pain oftentimes leaves the problem only partially treated. That’s why it’s so important to have a dual approach when treating most chronic pain conditions. Below, we talk more about the physical and mental approaches to treating chronic pain.

The Physical Approach To Chronic Pain

The physical approach to treating chronic pain is typically easier for patient to comprehend. If a pinched nerve is causing pain or joint degeneration is making movement painful, we can come up with some specific treatments for these physical issues. Rest, medications, physical therapy, exercise, weight loss and stretching techniques can all serve to help alleviate physical issues causing chronic pain. These therapies can help to:

Calm inflammation
Strengthen supportive structures
Stabilize an area that regularly handles stress
Shift structures back in alignment
Improve blood circulation
Promote healthy muscular and tissue function

Treating the underlying physical cause of pain is very important, but sometimes it’s only part of the problem. Other times chronic pain is caused or exacerbated by your brain’s interpretation of pain signals. As you might imagine, changing how your brain interprets pain isn’t easy, but it can be done with the help of a pain management specialist like Dr. Cohn.

The Mental Approach To Treating Chronic Pain

Learning how to use your brain to overcome your chronic pain condition can be tough, but programs like cognitive behavioral therapy and similar techniques help patients better understand and interpret the signals they are receiving. Now, you’re not going to be able to learn how to turn off pain receptors in your brain, but you will learn how to better cope with a painful flareup or how to mentally approach your chronic pain condition so that you string together more good days than bad.

A pain management specialist or cognitive behavioral therapist can help you:

Better understand your pain triggers and your underlying condition
Coping techniques when a flareup develops (deep breathing, yoga, relaxation, etc.)
The importance of healthy lifestyle choices in controlling physical pain (exercise, diet, sleep)
Identifying sources of stress that could exacerbate pain sensations

At the end of the day, for chronic pain conditions it is very important that you connect with a specialist who can help you overcome both the physical and mental challenges brought on by chronic pain. Treating one without the other can cause symptoms to linger. Let Dr. Cohn and his team help treat the totality of your pain so that you can regain control over your chronic pain condition. For more information or for help with your condition, give his office a call today at (952) 738-4580.

Overcoming The Guilt Of Chronic Pain

January 27, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Chronic pain can leave a person feeling a number of different ways, but a recent study found that one emotion that many chronic pain patients suffer from as a result of their condition is guilt. Dealing with chronic pain should be bad enough without also having to feel guilty about battling the condition. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at some of the more common reasons why chronic pain patients experience guilt, and we talk about how you can work to overcome these feelings.

Feeling Guilty About Chronic Pain

A recent study in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that chronic pain was oftentimes associated with poorer psychological and social functioning, and that oftentimes manifested in the form of guilt. But why are chronic pain patients feeling guilty about their pain? According to the study, several guilt-related themes emerged. Patients oftentimes felt guilty because:

Others Assumed Their Pain Was Not Legitimate – Many patients without a definitive diagnosis or those dealing with conditions that others struggle to empathize with may feel guilty for recognizing their own pain. Chronic pain is oftentimes tough to specifically identify, and if a person can’t point to a specific reason why their back hurts, they may feel like they’re a fraud because “anyone could say their back hurts without a specific diagnosis.”

Not Doing Enough To Treat Their Pain – Sometimes, despite our best efforts, chronic pain doesn’t respond to treatment like we hoped it would. Patients can sometimes feel guilty or like they are letting their friends, family or doctors down because they aren’t getting any better even though they are trying their best.

Guilt Over Help From Or Burden Unto Others – Patients sometimes feel guilty that they need to rely on others for assistance, or because they feel like a burden to others who have to take on more responsibility because of how chronic pain limits their ability.

It’s also important to note that guilt also manifested in the form of poorer physical outcomes. The study found that guilt correlated with worse physical functioning, greater disability and heightened fatigue, so guilt is both a mental and physical burden. This speaks to the importance of effectively treating these feelings.

Helping Chronic Pain Patients Overcome Guilt

So how can we help chronic pain patients overcome these feelings of guilt for the sake of their mental and physical health? As you might have guessed, it takes a careful and comprehensive approach. First, you need to connect with a provider who understands the physical, mental and emotional burden that comes with chronic pain. Dr. Cohn and his team understand all the ways that chronic pain can impact your life, and we know that it’s not just about treating the physical pain. We know how important it is to validate your pain and your experiences to help you overcome these feelings of guilt.

We can help treat the underlying cause of your chronic pain, but we can also set you up with cognitive therapies that help you understand where these feelings of guilt are coming from and how to validate your experiences so that you can confidently push those irrational feelings out of your mind. We also talk with patients about the importance of finding healthy outlets to discuss their frustrations or share their experiences so that chronic pain doesn’t leave them feeling isolated or guilty. It’s not easy and every patient requires a different approach, but it’s worth it in the end.

So if you are dealing with feelings of guilt related to your chronic pain condition, let us treat the whole you. We can help you overcome the physical, mental and emotional challenges you’re facing. For more information, or to set up an appointment with our clinic, give Dr. Cohn and his team a call today at (952) 738-4580.