In Pain for Months? Consider Functional Restoration
Long after three months, when “normal healing” can be expected, more than 25 million U.S. adults experience pain on a daily basis, a National Health Interview Survey found. This becomes more common as we age and more often experience ailments such as lower back pain or osteoarthritis.
It can prevent us from living any kind of normal life.
Not all sufferers have a physician-diagnosed health issue. Other times, pain can result from having two or more diagnoses of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome or something else.
Take lower back pain. One Study. published in the European Spine Journal (and subsequently fully posted online by the U.S. National Institutes of Health) found that, in western industrialized nations, it can afflict 49 to 70 percent of people at one time or another and annually occur in 15 to 45 percent of a population.
That same study also pointed to a potential solution: “functional restoration,” a program provided by Advanced Pain Care. This involves building strength and endurance via cardiopulmonary and weight-related exercises and stretching. You develop correct ways to bend and lift. You learn relaxation exercises and psychological approaches to manage pain and lessen fears and anxiety resulting from chronic pain.
It can help you attain a greater goal: the ability to return to work.
The goal is to reclaim quality of life and, while not necessarily eliminating or alleviating pain, at least making it manageable. The potential benefits?
- Being able to walk longer and farther
- Being able to lift heavier items
- Regaining bodily flexibility
- Less fear about getting hurt during normal activities
- Less depression
Advanced Pain Care’s functional restoration program, led by Matthew Walden, PT, DPT, ranges from 10-20 days, 6-8 hours per day, both 1-on-1 and in groups. Most costs are covered by workers’ compensation.
Dr. Walden has suffered through his own painful experiences from sports injuries. He understands the struggle of living with pain, physical setbacks and bodily wear and tear. He lives by this motto: “Laughter is free medicine.”
The program is located at Advanced Pain Care’s Round Rock facility, 2000 S. Mays St., Suite 201.
