Why Successful Pain Management Requires Active Therapies

Dozens of clinical trials have demonstrated that prescribing active exercise therapies yields better outcomes than delivering adjustments alone.

Hearing a patient’s success story is so gratifying — especially when it reinforces all the research you’ve been doing. In recent years, dozens of clinical trials have demonstrated that prescribing active exercise therapies yields better outcomes than delivering adjustments alone. So it makes sense that insurance companies don’t approve long term use (4+ visits) of passive therapies for achieving effective long-term outcomes.  

That’s why Chiro One DCs have always included robust, personalized, evidence-based active therapies in every treatment plan. 

In this post we present you with our wellness arsenal: the latest research on how active therapies improve patient outcomes – specifically for long-term pain management. These studies have helped us to refine our active therapy protocols and spend more time educating patients. Exciting stuff! 
 
Questions? Comments? Click the link at the bottom of the post and Let’s Talk!

The Latest Efficacy Evidence for Active Therapies

Whether you call them neurodynamic exercises, nerve mobilizations or simply active therapies — the evidence is clear: they work. When executed in a timely, correct and consistent manner, , neurodynamic exercises (which combine spine and limb movements) have been shown to:

• Reduce nerve mechanosensitivity
• Restore limb movement and function
• Resolve pain and stiffness

Since 2020, several pivotal studies have unequivocally confirmed decades of research demonstrating the efficacy of active therapies for pain management. They are already informing decisions about prescribing surgical versus conservative intervention. 

The European Journal of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine reported that adherence to exercise therapies almost doubled the probability of a favorable outcome for patients with back pain. When these interventions are combined with at-home exercise protocols outcomes improve further. 

The Journal of Sports Rehabilitation reviewed four other long-term studies – two utilizing passive neural mobilizations, one utilized active therapies, and one combined active neural mobilizations with splinting. All the studies demonstrated efficacy for pain, symptom severity, and physical function. Splinting was effective only when combined with active therapies.  

The National Library of Science recently published a study on patients with back–related leg pain and peripheral nerve sensitization. Those who regularly did slider and tensioner neural mobilization exercises reported improvement in both pain and range of motion — those in the control group did not. Medical journals have now confirmed the results that chiropractic researchers have been studying for decades. 

Engaging Patients in Their Care with Active Therapies

One of the greatest challenges and opportunities of our profession is educating and engaging our patients enough for them to enjoy the most robust benefits of chiropractic therapy. Keeping up with the latest research can help.

You likely treat a good number of patients with mild to moderate sciatica, runners’ knee, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and herniated discs. During their first appointment they’re often desperate for immediate pain relief. In-clinic active therapies like neurodynamic exercises (such as nerve gliding and nerve flossing) and mobility exercises (like carpal ligament stretching) can be a valuable part of that journey.

At Chiro One, these therapies are a common part of treatment for both chronic and acute pain patients.  

Our active therapies are centered around three functional areas:

Flexibility training: to lengthen and relax the muscle, increasing blood flow to the area and enabling chores like laundry as well as recreational activities like golf and swimming via:

• StretchCore 
• Flexion chair
• Wobble chair 

Balance training: helps prevent falls and improve core balance, strengthens the legs and core to promote good posture and spinal alignment while combatting the negative effects of gravity, promoting more graceful aging via:

• Standing and sitting vestibular exercises
• Gaze stabilization exercises
• Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise

Strength training: builds and tone muscles; helps the body recover after illness or injury via:

• Body weight 
• Resistance bands
• Weight bars 
• Kettlebells 
• Exercise balls

For chronic pain patients, active therapy exercises can help:

• Reduce edema (swelling)
• Improve neural mobility (the ability of nerves to slide in the body)
• Reduce neural adhesion (scar tissue that joins two surfaces that are not usually connected)
• Improve nerve conduction (speed at which electrical impulse moves through a nerve)

Active therapies can also help to mobilize compressed nerves by applying light pressure to help move it through the nerve sheath. A simple visual (graphic or model) helps demonstrate how nerve flossing and tensioning techniques help locate the source of their pain, then restore balance to the patient’s nervous system. 

Reinforcing the value of active therapies can help ensure patients complete their care plans and achieve maximum care benefits, including:

• Flexibility 
• Mobility
• Strength 
• Balance  

Active therapies are a powerful way to help patients relieve chronic pain and prevent recurrence – so they can get back to doing what they love! 

Learn more about the benefits of adding active therapies to your clinical practice, and the benefits for both your patients and your clinic.  
 
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