If you are suffering from chronic pain after an accident or from a condition such as fibromyalgia and other diseases that affect the nervous system, you may want to feel more comfortable without overreliance on pain relieving drugs. A combination of primary care and chiropractic care can offer long-lasting pain relief. While primary medical care and chiropractic treatments may not eliminate pain on their own, together they can effectively treat your chronic pain.
Why Medication Can Be Harmful In Alleviating Chronic Pain
Pain medications have their place in a treatment plan, especially for reducing the impact of acute pain. However, drugs only mask the symptoms without healing. Overreliance on NSAIDS increases the risk of heart attacks by 2 to 4 times, while also leading to gastrointestinal bleeding. Acetaminophen, another type of pain relief drug, can lead to liver failure. Stronger opioid painkillers can be addictive.
If you integrate your care to include more traditional treatments as well as natural treatments, you will be less likely to experience these side effects.
What Causes Chronic Pain?
The best treatment for chronic pain should address the cause. Chronic pain remains long after whatever triggered it; so addressing that trigger could be the key to stopping that pain. Research has established that once pain starts our bodies and brains learn to accommodate it, so attempts to stop it or reduce it become more difficult. In essence, pain becomes a habit the body establishes and it is hard to break. There are several competing theories about how the brain perceives pain and how best to treat it:
- The Sensory Effect
The sensory effect is the brain’s electrochemical perception of pain. Chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, and other manual techniques interrupt the pain signals before they can reach the brain. - The Emotional Effect
The emotional effect is perceived, immediate response to an injury pain. Hypnosis, meditation, and placebo therapy attempt to impact the emotional component of pain and makes it seem less uncomfortable. - The Sensory Emotional Effect
The sensory emotional effect is the combined impact that both emotional and sensory effects have on the body.
Approaches To Treating Pain
There are many ways to approaching main management. But a combination of primary care and chiropractic care has been proven to relieve pain faster and more effectively.
There are several different approaches to chiropractic care. Here are a few examples. Some chiropractors adhere to modern theories about treating pain, based on neurology and orthopedics, while more traditional chiropractors rely on the original Palmer philosophy, or the theory that pain results from subluxation and misalignment. Virtually all chiropractors see spinal adjustment as necessary to properly treating pain.
Why? The spine and skeletal structure are impacted by accidents, injuries, and even organic diseases, which cause muscular reactions that affect the bones they’re anchored to. Not only is acute pain reduced by chiropractic care, but it also influences the body on the cellular level, addresses dysfunctions in the body, and may even repair DNA.
During your course of chiropractic treatment, your primary care physician may prescribe medication to augment chiropractic treatment or lessen symptoms so the chiropractic care will be more effective. Your physician may also prescribe supplements to keep your body healthy during the treatment. They can also prescribe medication for pain in safe doses, and in sync with your chiropractic treatments.
Why A Combination Of Chiropractic And Primary Care Is Key To Chronic Pain Relief
While primary care can be both alleviating and preventative, chiropractic strives to reestablish normal muscle, joint, and vascular system functioning by using a variety of techniques. Trigger point therapy, in particular, can be effective, because the practitioner manipulates hyperirritable points in muscles (the trigger points). The release of tension runs along bands of muscle fibers. At first, the patient may feel pain, but their primary care physician is on call to alleviate pain, assist in building muscle and boosting the healing process.
Most chiropractors use a variety of techniques that are often useful to patients, and their practice may offer alternative services such as massage, yoga, physical therapy, or nutritional consultation to assist healing. In addition to adjustments and manipulations in the office, chiropractors often send the patient home with exercises to help facilitate recovery. However, that exercise can be painful after an intense chiropractic session. Your primary care physician can help bridge the gap between pain and healing, for a faster, more relaxed recovery.
Chiropractic Care Pairs Well With Primary Care
In a National Institutes of Health study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, out of 272 patients with neck pain, only 13% of those treated with drugs became pain-free, while 30% of those who exercised and 32% of those who received chiropractic care became pain-free. Not surprisingly, when patients seek out chiropractic treatment, the provider often gives patients exercises to do at home to reinforce the effect of the treatment. Although chiropractic generally manipulates joints and bone, patients who received chiropractic treatment and exercise are even more likely to feel improvement in muscle as well.
However, this only works when the body and mind are healthy enough to handle treatment. Your primary care physician can assist in healing the infections and ailments that hinder your recovery. They can also help to alleviate immediate pain, while your chiropractic care alleviates long term pain. This will ultimately help you to receive more treatments and faster, for lasting results that allow you to return to your life sooner.
Come To Raintree Medical And Chiropractic Center For Complete Treatment
When you have chronic pain, Raintree Medical and Chiropractic Center offers a multi-faceted approach to helping you find relief. Our primary care providers can offer medical relief when appropriate, while our team of chiropractors, massage therapists, and sports rehabilitation professionals can provide other approaches to relief. For information or to schedule an appointment, contact us today at 816-623-3020.