Most people will readily agree that regular exercise is good for you, and when combined with a healthy diet will help people gain or lose weight, and generally improve their quality of life.  Unfortunately, many people with a chronic pain condition mistakenly believe that they can no longer get the full benefits of exercise.  Dr. Egoscue in his book, Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain, is very adamant that flexibility and mobility are the keys to successful chronic pain management.

I discovered a study highlighting the benefit of even modest exercise titled Modest Exercise Helps Chronic Pain Patients that was presented on February 15, 2008 at the American Academy of Pain Medicine 24th Annual Meeting.  Please see an excerpt below.

The review aimed to determine the effect of a 3-week aerobic training program on physical conditioning and to assess the acute effects of a brief, 10-minute exercise protocol on pain, mood, and perceived exertion. The final sample of 28 patients — lowered from 54 due to factors such as lack of motivation to exercise and fear of exercise — had an immediate perception change about exercise upon starting the program.

Measures of heart rate, mood, pain, and perceived exertion were obtained. On average, patients received 5 hours of conditioning per week, in addition to routine daily activities. Results demonstrated significant short- and long-term benefits of exercise. Patients showed a statistically significant reduction in exercise-induced cardiac acceleration from admission to 3 weeks. The brief exercise protocol also produced significant immediate antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. The research suggests that relatively modest exercise leads to improved mood and physical capacity, which has further implications for mortality risk. The review also suggests that brief exercise is a safe, cost-free, nonpharmacological strategy for immediately reducing depression and anxiety [which often accompany living with chronic pain].

I believe that exercise can and should be part of all pain management plans.  The type and frequency of exercise is the important factor which requires someone with experience and clinical skills to develop an effective—and safe—program.  Rest and immobilization periods (or up-time and down-time), should also be an integral foundation of the plan. 

Other important considerations include the style of exercise, the progression of intensity, the frequency or quantity, and the prevention of additional injury.  As mentioned earlier, hydrotherapy and water exercises can be very beneficial for people with chronic pain issues.

To learn about using a best-practice and research-based chronic pain management treatment protocol please check out my article The Need for Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Management that you can download for free on our Article page.

If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this and my other upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.