Are you looking forward to the weekend?
You may want to cancel some of your less exciting plans to get ahead in your journey to overcome your chronic neck or back pain.
Chronic Pain can feel like a difficult place to make headway, but I’ve got 5 strategies for you that you can start applying this weekend. Or, whenever you have time if you want to get outside and play this weekend instead.
Strategy #1. Get Really Clear on Your Commitment
Thankfully, overcoming chronic neck or back pain (or headaches or sciatica or anxiety) doesn’t require a big investment, but I would highly recommend you get really clear on both your desire to change this long standing condition and your commitment to follow through.
It will test your commitment in no time.
If your condition were simple to resolve it would have done so on its own before now. Or, it would have responded to whatever treatment approaches you have tried before.
The body heals most problems on its own without any help. The fact that you have chronic pain over weeks or months or even years is an indication that it is more than the body can handle without some help. The longer it has been going on the more it generally takes to shift the imbalance in the body.
Here’s a post I made: The Meaning of Pain
Strategy #2. Review What You Have Done To Date
It’s important to take a look at what you have tried to overcome your pain. Make a list of the strategies and providers you have seen and all that was done….and the impact.
Look at services like:
- Physicians – primary care, pain management, orthopedics, neurology
- Physical Therapy
- Chiropractic
- Body Workers
- Acupuncture
Did they impact your pain even for a short time?
Did anything actually increase your pain?
Did something seem to be working but something else interfered with you following through?
Did anything seem promising but perhaps the provider didn’t seem the most skilled?
Strategy #3. Make a List of Everything that Aggravates Your Pain and Anything that Reduces it! (other than medication)
If you’ve been experiencing pain for a long time it becomes part of your daily life. You know you have to avoid certain movements, activities, and positions or you suffer.
It can help to make a list of the things that aggravate your pain and get really specific. How long does it take before the pain increases?
How long does it take after you stop for it to return to baseline?
Is there a movement or position that seems to reduce your pain?
Doing this serves a couple of purposes:
- It helps you measure progress as you move forward. If something causes more pain after only 5 minutes and with good treatment it doesn’t start to bother you for 15 or 20 minutes you know it is helping.
- It can help your next practitioner search for the major imbalance that is causing problems. Often it ends up being something that hasn’t been looked at.
Here’s an example from my practice, Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley.
A woman in her 50s came to see me about 5 months ago with a primary complaint of R hip pain. It was aggravated by sitting, doing yard work, even walking. She saw her primary care physician who diagnosed it as hip arthritis and referred her to an orthopedist. The ortho suggested an injection in her hip.
She opted to come to my office. Since the other two doctors had found the hip I looked beyond that. X-rays had been done on the hip but not the lower back. The nerves that control the hip and leg come from the lumbar spine.
I found weakness in the leg, disc degeneration in the lower back, and an imbalance in the pelvis. As we started to correct the imbalances in the low back and pelvis her hip pain largely resolved. She is active and has been able to run for the first time in years.
Strategy #4. Do Some Online and Offline Research
Go online and do a search for your problem in your local area.
For example:
- low back pain treatment in Grass Valley, CA
- Non surgical sciatica treatment in Grass Valley, CA
See what comes up. Go to the web sites of the providers that come up in the search. Is the information on the website consistent with what you are looking for?
Read their online reviews. Do they have more than 50 reviews that are largely 5 stars? Read some of the more detailed reviews.
Offline ask people you know from work, church, friends if they or anyone they know ever suffered from something similar and found a solution.
Talk to those people and ask them what they tried that worked and didn’t work. If something didn’t work ask who they saw and what they did.
Strategy #5. Make a Plan
Once you are clear on your experiences to date and have some ideas from your research it is time to make a plan.
What are your next steps in researching and exploring your options?
- Do you have providers to call and schedule a consultation with?
- Do you have more people to talk to about their experiences?
- Do you have any more research to do?
Make sure you are really clear on what you are looking for so when you do speak with an office you can ask questions that will help you.
The weekend is a great way to start your journey when you have more time than during the week. Get a notebook or pad of paper, or use a note app on your phone to track everything.
The great news?
You don’t have to go all-in on this or spend hours of time all at once. In fact this process shouldn’t take too long before you have some actionable steps.
As you gather information you will gain more clarity on what you want to do and what to discard.
The Life Chiropractic Corrective Rebalancing Program
I developed it because I wanted a really effective program for myself and I wanted to be able to offer patients the most effective and comprehensive program.
For years I tracked what consistently worked for myself and my patients. What offered results that were predictable and measurable. I kept the best and discarded anything that wasn’t consistent.
I ended up with a program with 4 core strategies:
- Corrective Chiropractic Care: this is an advancement over traditional chiropractic as it focuses on restoring balance, alignment, and movement.
- Spinal Joint Flossing: restricted joints need reinforcement to restore and maintain motion in the facet joints that are often a source of pain.
- Posterior Chain Activation: pain and restricted or altered movement results in an inhibition of the vital postural muscles of the posterior chain.
- Vagus Nerve Activation: chronic pain is always accompanied by autonomic nervous system imbalance. This requires increasing the activity of the Vagus Nerve to help reduce pain, muscle tension, and inflammation.
Want more help with Overcoming Your Chronic Pain?
If you are in Nevada County, Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley offers the Corrective Rebalancing Program.
The first step is a Consultation and Exam to see what is going on and if you qualify for and would benefit from the program.
You can schedule your initial visit here: Schedule Here
About Dr. Berkowitz
Dr. Bill Berkowitz is a dedicated chiropractor who brings reliability and depth to his practice at Life Chiropractic in western Nevada County. Focused on addressing chronic issues like low back pain, headaches, and anxiety, Dr. Berkowitz delivers patient-centered care rooted in proven methods without unnecessary extras.
Life Chiropractic, founded by Dr. Bill Berkowitz, offers reliable and results-driven chiropractic care for residents of western Nevada County. With a focus on foundational health solutions, the practice prioritizes quality and effectiveness to help clients achieve relief from chronic issues without unnecessary add-ons.
Schedule your first visit here: Schedule Here