Dealing with chronic pain

A large number of people in the United States suffer from chronic pain, pain that just won't go away. Chronic back and neck pain will last beyond the expected healing time and often interfere with daily life. Whatever the cause of chronic pain, feelings of frustration, anger and fear can make it more intense. Aside from physical treatments, there are a number of psychological methods of paint management, such as relaxation, biofeedback, and imagery that may provide relief and should be discussed with your health care professional.

Relaxation is one of the simplest, but rarely followed, methods of relieving bodily pain. Concentration and slow, deep breathing can release tension from muscles and relieve pain. The Healthy Back Store offers a wide selection of relaxation products including our massage chair inventory featuring brands like Inada and Human Touch. These highly sought after personal massage chairs can be assigned to target the parts of your body that need the most attention, while sending your entire body into a state of pure relaxation.

Other techniques like biofeedback can be taught by a health care professional who uses special machines to help you learn to control your mind and body, such as heart rate and muscle tension. As you begin to release muscle tension, the machine immediately indicates appropriately. Once the technique is mastered, it can be practiced without the use of the machine and help of the professional.

Muscle tension is more commonly relieved using inversion tables and inversion therapy. By using an inversion table, available at the Healthy Back Store, for just five minutes a day, you will align your body with the downward force of gravity, which will increase the space between your vertebrae, relieving pressure on the areas in your back that are in pain such as the discs, ligaments, and nerve roots.

There are also a number of distraction techniques that will help you focus your attention away from the pain and towards more pleasant subjects. This can be as simple as watching television, reading a book, or listening to music, but can also be practiced through imagery or hypnosis. Imagery involves concentrating on mental pictures of pleasant scenes or events to reduce pain. Hypnosis can be practiced through the use of a therapist or by learning the methods of self-hypnosis which can be utilized when pain interrupts.

Individual, group, or family therapy may be useful for those whose pain has not responded to physical methods. People who suffer from chronic pain often experience emotional stress and depression. Therapy can help you cope with these feelings, making it easier to manage your pain.

All these psychological methods of pain-relief are an excellent complimentary tool to physical Healthy Back products. Be sure to take a look at our selection of back- and neck-care products to find the perfect option for you.

Acute versus chronic back pain

Chronic pain persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. Chronic pain is measured by duration, pain that persists for more than 3 months is considered chronic. There may have been an initial mishap – sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain – arthritis, cancer, ear infection, but some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. It is often progressive and the cause can be difficult to determine.

Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on low back pain, the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work. Back pain is the second most common neurological ailment in the United States; only the headache is more common. Fortunately, most occurrences of low back pain go away within a few days, but others can take much longer to resolve or lead to more serious conditions.

Back pain is generally categorized as Acute or Chronic. Acute or short-term back pain typically lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Most acute back pain is mechanical in nature and is the result of a trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues. While acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself, chronic pain is different.

Chronic pain persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. Chronic pain is measured by duration, pain that persists for more than 3 months is considered chronic. There may have been an initial mishap – sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain – arthritis, cancer, ear infection, but some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. It is often progressive and the cause can be difficult to determine.

Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on low back pain, the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work. Back pain is the second most common neurological ailment in the United States; only the headache is more common. Fortunately, most occurrences of low back pain go away within a few days, but others can take much longer to resolve or lead to more serious conditions. Back pain is generally categorized as Acute or Chronic. Acute or short-term back pain typically lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Most acute back pain is mechanical in nature and is the result of a trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues. While acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself, chronic pain is different.