Chronic Back Pain. Are You Really Willing To Do What It Takes To Get Better?

San Francisco Chiropractor and Chronic Back Pain Doctor Comments:

I consult with hundreds of chronic back and neck pain sufferers every year at my SF Financial District Chiropractic Center. And just when I think I have seen it all when it comes to back and neck pain symptoms...something else comes along that blows me away. One thing for sure...we are durable and adaptable...and sometimes stubborn. I meet with back pain patients that can hardly get out of bed, yet they are 50lbs overweight and unwilling to exercise or diet.

I did a phone consult with the relative of a patient yesterday to try to see if we could help him. He told me he is unable sleep lying down because his back pain is so bad. So he sleeps sitting up. He goes to Vegas tomorrow for a week. He will be renting one of those scooters to get around the casinos. He also told me he doesn't want to quit smoking or lose weight...but he really did want to feel better. I wished him good luck in Las Vegas. The truth of the matter is...the odds are greater for him winning at the casino than they are for his back to get better if he does not modify his lifestyle.

I guess what's amazing about some of this stuff is...even though someone has crippling back or neck pain that is severely impacting their lifestyle...they are still not willing to change the way they eat, modify their lifestyle, or try any kind of new treatment methods unless their insurance will pay for it, or it does not require a whole lot of effort. This is why fad diets are so popular, and diet pills.

I'm not talking about patients that can't afford alternative treatments either. What they are looking for is the MAGIC BULLET that they will simply never find. There's just no way to pop a pill or jump on a machine one time and fix a chronic, severe, badly degenerated spine. These things take time, and often times massive lifestyle modifications.

My experience has been that the patients who are willing to adjust any (lifestyle) knob they can in the direction of health, in an effort to make a change, are the patients that respond the best to treatment. They are willing to pay the price. Whatever it takes.

I see other patients continue to have cortisone injections and take all kinds of medications for years and years simply because their insurance is paying for it, even though it's not working and probably never will. Or refuse to try a plant based diet to lose weight and reduce inflammation. So...we give our attention to those who want help and are ready for change...it's all we can do.

Life is like a cafeteria line. You can take whatever you want, but at the end of the line you have to pay the price. And the deserts are always at the beginning of the line.