The 5 keys that Really Matter in Chronic Pain Treatment

The National Health Interview Survey found that over 50 million or 20% of US adults report pain on most days or every day. Chronic pain is a growing challenge and if you suffer from chronic pain you know how challenging it is to fully participate in life. 

There is always the option of strong medication, injections, or surgery. But managing your pain effectively without medication or surgery gives you the potential to more actively control your health. 

Download my FREE GUIDE The Roadmap to Overcoming Chronic Pain and Fatigue.

Chronic Pain is a Nerve Problem

Chronic pain can be due to any number of causes. You might have sustained an injury causing permanent damage. You might attribute your pain to wear and tear degeneration. While the amount of permanent damage has a bearing on how fully you might resolve your pain, in other ways it really doesn’t matter. 

All pain is the result of pressure, tension, irritation, or inflammation of delicate nerve tissue that causes the experience of pain. Anything that reduces the tension or pressure has the potential to improve the pain. 

Pain Medication Has Risks

All pain medication has significant risks that should be considered, especially when you might be taking them for extended periods of time. Here are some possible risks and complications for over-the-counter and prescription pain medications according to the Cleveland Clinic.

  • Acetaminophen (Tylenol): risk of liver damage. Most common cause of acute liver failure
  • NSAID: prolonged use can increase risk of heart attacks and strokes. Also increased risk of stomach upset and ulcers.
  • Prescription Pain Relievers: addiction, blurred vision, constipation, fatigue, insomnia, nausea and more. 

5 Keys in Chronic Pain Treatment

Over the past 35 years I’ve cared for thousands of people experiencing chronic pain and the following 5 keys are what I have found to be the most consistent and effective in helping people reduce or resolve their pain. 

Key #1: Structural Balance. Once you sit up or stand it is critical that your body structure be in as much balance as possible. Any imbalance puts excess stress and pressure on joints and tissues. This imbalance accelerates the wear and tear of those tissues which only aggravates the pain. 

Allow me to use a car as an analogy. If you were to buy 4 brand new tires and put them on a car without balancing the wheels or aligning the front end, those tires would wear out at an accelerated rate. The same happens to the joints in your body and this is what causes degenerative arthritis and the cause for the majority of hip and knee replacements. It’s much easier and cheaper to replace tires than it is joints and original equipment in your body is always the best. 

Restoring as much balance as possible greatly reduces the stress to your joints and the effort your body makes in trying to bring you to balance. This reduces muscle tension and spasm, and reduces inflammation as well as pain. 

Key #2: Joint Mobility. One of the keys in controlling pain is in restoring and maintaining healthy joint motion. When joints lose their motion they start to become painful. A painful joint that isn’t moving properly causes other compensations and adaptations that cause more imbalance and pain. Much of chronic pain is the result of the adaptations and compensations.

Restoring as much mobility to the large joints of the body is an essential key in chronic pain treatment. This is true especially of the spinal joints, pelvic joints, and hips. Often people will restrict their movement due to pain, only to have the restricted movement cause a worsening of the pain.

Key #3: Sleep. Sleep is at once incredibly important and challenging to dial in. The reality is that once structural balance and joint mobility are improved, sleep becomes easier to improve.

You must prioritize sleep as this is the time your body recovers, heals, and repairs. Poor sleep drives up inflammation and pain which only worsens your chronic pain. Poor quality sleep becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of inflammation, fatigue, and pain driving poor sleep which causes more of the same. 

Sleep hygiene is a topic by itself but here are the basics to consider. Prioritize these even if you don’t see an immediate change in your sleep. As you improve the other 4 keys your sleep will also improve.

  • Go to bed at a consistent time
  • Avoid stimulants like coffee after noon
  • Do not eat in the last couple of hours you are up
  • Sleep in a dark room
  • Sleep in a cool room under 65 degrees
  • Avoid bright lights for a few hours before bed

Key #4: Autonomic Nervous System Balance. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) controls body functions outside of your conscious awareness. In chronic pain there is an overactivation of the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” System and a corresponding suppression of the Vagus Nerve of the Parasympathetic “Rest and Digest” System. 

Chronic activation of the Sympathetic System causes a number of challenges to your health and well-being with the following most intimately linked to chronic pain:

  • Increased muscle tension and pain
  • Increased inflammation
  • Impaired healing and recovery
  • Impaired immune system function
  • Disturbed quality sleep
  • Stress hormone production
  • Chronic fatigue over time

The priority in balancing the Autonomic Nervous System is to first remove as much tension and interference from the system. Mid back spinal joints and ribs can cause activation of the Sympathetic System. Imbalances at the very top of the cervical spine and the pelvis can result in reduced activity of the Vagus Nerve. These two combinations are much of the reason for the perpetuation or worsening of chronic pain.

Key #5: Vagus Nerve Activation. The descriptor “chronic” means this condition has existed for a long time and the reality is that the imbalances that allowed it to develop and worsen were in place long before the pain started. This is true even if it was trauma that set the stage for the pain.

The longer the ANS has been out of balance with chronic activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System the lower the tone or activity of the Vagus Nerve. It is not enough to restore structural balance, improve joint motion, and remove tension from the ANS. The Vagus Nerve needs to be woken up or activated.

Think of this like exercise for the Vagus Nerve. You will want to train your Vagus Nerve to be able to develop greater immunity to stress and keep you in balance even with the stresses of life. It’s like training for an athletic event. If you were training to run a marathon you would go out running once a week. You’d never get in good even shape or get strong enough to run a race close to a marathon.

The same applies to the Vagus Nerve. There is a principle in neurology that you want to utilize. It‘s the same principle that contributed to the Sympathetic System becoming dominant, only you’re going to use it in reverse. 

It’s called “Neurons that fire together, wire together”. Basically what it means is that the more you activate a neural pathway the easier it becomes to activate it and the stronger that pathway gets. 

The more you activate the Vagus Nerve the stronger it gets and the more active the Vagus Nerve gets the quieter the Sympathetic Nervous System gets.  A stronger and more active Vagus Nerve is going to help….

  • Reduce muscle tension and pain
  • You relax
  • Reduce inflammation
  • Improve sleep quality
  • Improve Immune System function
  • Reduce stress hormone production

Chronic pain is a challenging condition but if you work with your body to bring greater balance and ease you can achieve significant improvements. First, let’s slow down and stop that progressive worsening of the pain. That alone will result in significant improvement. But, don’t stop there. Work with your body to help support it in doing what it is hardwired to do….achieve balance, heal, and recover. 

Make sure to subscribe to my social media channels where I regularly post tips, insights and practices to help you.

Facebook: Life Chiropractic Facebook
YouTube: Life Chiropractic YouTube
Instagram: Life Chiropractic Instagram

Schedule a Consultation, History and Exam here Life Chiropractic

I look forward to exploring how we can help you.