Jingle Your Way Through the Holidays with Exercise 

If you suffer from chronic pain, exercise can help keep your mobility and help you maintain your strength. This holiday season, follow these tips to get more exercise to keep your body going strong through the new year. 

Chronic Pain

Pain is a normal reaction that helps alert you when an injury or illness is threatening your health and wellbeing. Getting bit by a mosquito or scraping your knee is acute pain, however, pain can become chronic when it occurs almost daily for weeks on end. Once your pain remains constant over months at time, there is a more serious problem that needs to be addressed. 

Symptoms of Chronic Pain 

If you have pain that occurs two to three times a week, or more, you could be suffering from chronic pain. Daily, chronic pain can have the following symptoms:

• Aching knees, commonly caused by arthritis 
• Hip and leg pain, commonly caused by sciatica
• Migraines 
• Burning sensation in the hands and feet
• Shooting, throbbing, or steady back pain
• Neck tightness and irritation
• Pain and sensations that only affect the surface of the skin 

Common Causes of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain could be a sign of many different illnesses, injury, and ailments. All of them can be serious, so if your pain and irritation isn’t going away you should seek medical help from our team at Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center. To name a few of the common causes of chronic pain, they are: 

• Fibromyalgia
• Nerve damage, commonly caused by diabetes or injury
• Muscle strain and overuse
• Depleted cartilage in joints
• Whiplash
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Shingles
• Depression
• Herniated discs or spinal misalignment

Chronic Pain Risks

If you don’t currently suffer from chronic pain, you could help yourself avoid ever having the issue by caring for your health now. This includes:

• Keeping stress levels low
• Seeking help for anxiety and depression 
• Knowing the risk that comes with major surgery
• Making yourself aware of your family’s history with chronic pain
• Maintaining a healthy weight

Though all of these can help lower your risk of developing pain, the best thing you can do for yourself is exercise to maintain mobility and muscle function. 

Why Exercise is Important 

We have all grown up hearing just how important exercise is for our physical, mental, and overall health. Regular exercise can help protect your body from future injury, pain, and loss of mobility. If you currently suffer from chronic pain, exercise can help you strengthen your body so it’s better able to support you throughout your daily life, oftentimes removing the pain you feel. If you’re new to exercise, remember everybody has to start somewhere. Here are our top tips for incorporating more exercise throughout your day: 

Start by seeking help from a physical therapist

If you have no idea where to begin on exercising for your current pain, seeking help from a physical therapist can help you start slowly and safely. Spine-health recommends using a physical therapist for three main reasons. To:

1. Get relief from pain
2. Develop an individualized exercise program
3. Learn proper exercise technique and give musical protection to your bone and joint structure 

Walk more

If you don’t want to jump into an intensive cardio routine, start by adding more walks throughout your day. Aim for at least one 30-minute walk per day to get your body moving. 

Take the Stairs

Try to take the stairs versus an elevator or escalator option when able. You can do this if you live in an apartment complex, work in a multi-floor building, or even when you’re out shopping. In fact, taking the stairs has many benefits, like:

• Burning more calories
• Reduces your risk of stroke
• Improves cardiovascular health
• Strengthens muscles
• Helps fight a sedentary lifestyle

Wake up Early

If time is your biggest problem in incorporating more exercise, wake up earlier than you normally do to squeeze in movement before work or school. To set yourself up for success, set out your workout clothes and a water bottle the night before. Then, all you have to do is get dressed and start your workout. 

Get Up From Your Desk

If you work a desk job, get more movement during your day by setting an alarm on your phone to stand up every hour and do a quick walk around your office. We often get busy at work and don’t realize how many hours pass with us just sitting in our chairs. 

Exercise with Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center

If you don’t know where to start with exercise for chronic pain, call our office today to make an appointment: (512)-806-0015. We’re here for you — no matter the time of the year!