Chronic Pain: What It Really Means and How to Manage It

Chronic Pain is manageable

Understanding Your Experience

Chronic pain can feel like a mystery when you’re living with it—but you're not alone. According to NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), chronic pain is:

“An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage […] that persists or recurs for more than 3 months.”

Surprised it only takes three months to be considered “chronic”? It’s true. That’s how quickly a short-term issue can become a long-term struggle. But that clinical definition doesn’t quite capture what it’s like to live with it daily. When it comes to managing chronic pain, I often hear from patients that the unpredictability is the hardest part. You’re not imagining it—and there are ways to stabilize that cycle.

How Chiropractic Care Helps

Chiropractic care focuses on helping your body move and function better. When we restore proper movement to the body—especially in areas that have been stiff or under strain—we’re actually retraining the nervous system.

Think of it like this: if someone accidentally hits your arm, your first instinct is to rub it. Why? Because that rubbing motion activates nerves that override the pain signals. This is known as the Gate Control Theory.

This is the same concept we apply in chiropractic care—using movement and manual therapy to help your nervous system prioritize healing and mobility over pain. It is a foundational step in managing chronic pain effectively.

What to Expect During the Process

One of the most important things to understand is that pain often comes in waves. It’s rarely constant—but when it flares, it can be intense. The goal of chiropractic treatment is to change that pain pattern over time.

When we focus on managing chronic pain, we want to move:

• From: Sharp, unpredictable pain spikes and short relief periods.

• To: Milder, more manageable discomfort, longer stretches of relief, and fewer flare-ups.

While you might not become completely pain-free overnight, regular care helps make your symptoms more stable and less disruptive to your daily life.

The Neurological Side of Managing Chronic Pain

Many people assume chronic pain means something in the body is “broken.” But often, the issue is in how the nervous system is processing pain—not just in the muscles or joints. That’s why our approach to managing chronic pain goes beyond just adjusting the spine. We look at:

• How your body moves: Addressing biomechanical imbalances.

• Your cellular and nutritional health: Reducing systemic inflammation.

• Lifestyle factors: Optimizing sleep, stress management, and daily habits.

This whole-person strategy helps support your long-term recovery—not just mask the symptoms.

Healing Is Possible

Living with chronic pain can be exhausting, frustrating, and isolating. But with the right support, your body can learn to respond differently. Chiropractic care is a tool—one that helps reduce the intensity and frequency of your pain, while helping you get back to doing more of what you love.

Managing chronic pain won't always be a linear path, but small, consistent changes lead to big results over time. Your future self will thank you for getting started.

More about Dr. Thomas Jarka, DC