My husband and I have suffered from chronic back pain for decades. It got worse as we aged, and we found ourselves avoiding walking and lifting. The less we moved, the worse we felt.
We were trapped in a cycle; it felt like there was no way out. One day I noticed that lifting a cup of tea felt heavy. That was a shock!
Luckily, around that time, my PCP told me about the Functional Restoration Program at Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Center for Pain and Spine. The program tackles chronic pain from two different angles.
Over the course of four weeks, from 8 AM to 3 PM, participants do four to five hours of exercise every day, five days a week, to build strength and flexibility. It’s intense! The exercise is complemented by pain education discussions, explaining how we feel pain, and why we feel pain long after the acute injury has healed.
It was helpful to understand how the brain creates a sort of pain highway, and this becomes the norm. The pain highway will grow and spread even after the physical reason for pain has disappeared. FRP gives us tools to reset those pathways, including mindfulness and relaxation techniques.
When we started the program, I wasn’t certain we’d be able to stick with it. We used to enjoy hiking, but that was a long time ago, and we’d never belonged to a gym.
The instructors knew exactly how to challenge us while keeping it fun. They were upbeat and sometimes goofy, yet completely focused on getting us to give our best.
With eight people in our group, all ages and different abilities, we formed a close bond and felt supported by each other. Within just a few days, it was amazing how much better we felt: less pain, more energy, and way more relaxed.
Now that the program is over, our challenge will be to keep doing what we learned. We’re not going to suddenly become incredible athletes; we’ll be happy to keep it at this level, significantly stronger, more confident about our abilities, and feeling much less pain overall. I’m thrilled to say that for my husband and me this program exceeded our expectations and then some!
For more information about the program, go to: dartmouth-hitchcock.org>pain-spine>functional-restoration, or call Dartmouth Hitchcock at 603 650-8285.
Caroline Moulton Ratzki
Andover