The value of taking pain into your own hands

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 27, 2026

Last week, I ran into a patient I treated for low back pain about a year ago. That assessment consisted of a small handful of visits, during which we discovered a single direction of spinal bending that dramatically reduced her pain. After a couple of weeks of consistently performing that movement as an exercise, she completely overcame her problem and was able to go about her life without symptoms.

That result was not surprising, as roughly 70-75% of people with back, neck, or extremity pain have a single direction of movement that significantly improves their condition. Termed a directional preference, this patient’s pain fell into that category, and using her specific movement, she was able to quickly and efficiently orchestrate her own recovery.

When I saw this patient again last week, she shared a story consistent with other directional preference patients I have seen. She told me that she was recently out of town, caring for a family member, and re-aggravated her back. Initially, she panicked, unsure what to do as she was halfway across the country, until she remembered the pearls of self-management she learned during our sessions. As is typical in those with an established directional preference, she was able to utilize the same strategy we discovered a year ago, and within a short time, she was back to normal.

This influence over symptoms, not only for the current episode but also for future episodes, is an extremely valuable tool in a patient’s proverbial tool belt. We know that musculoskeletal pain is typically recurrent and often worsens over time, making the ability to self-treat paramount.

Another benefit of a patient’s ability to manage recurrences using self-treatment strategies is that it is very portable. I have had patients send me pictures of themselves using their directional preference exercise on the beach in Hawaii, on cobblestone streets in Europe, and even on the top of a mountain. Similar to the patient I ran into last week, they were able to take care of their pain in real time using a very simple exercise, pain that otherwise would have significantly altered their lives.

Being able to control one’s own pain also provides a significant psychological advantage for patients. This emotional benefit is also seen in patient-controlled analgesia, a method of pain management that allows patients (e.g. those who recently underwent an operation) to self-administer small, programmed doses of pain medication using a specialized pump. Patient-controlled analgesia empowers patients with control over their pain management, promoting autonomy, decreasing anxiety, and encouraging an active role in recovery. And interestingly, those who utilize patient-controlled analgesia use less medicine than those who rely on the attending medical professionals for pain management.

The numerous benefits of directional preference are the reason why every patient should be assessed for it. Two common responses from individuals when their directional preference is found are “I can’t believe it was this easy!” and “Why didn’t someone show me this a long time ago?”

Dr. Jordan Duncan is from Kitsap County and writes a monthly health column for Kitsap News Group. He is the owner of Silverdale Sport & Spine.