Relieving the Pain "Exercise may be thebest treatment of chronic pain, "say doctors at a new clinic for dealingwith pain. "People with chronic pain need to stop lying around,go outmore, and start exercising. "The in- stinctive reaction to acute pain isto stop moving and to try to protect the source of pain. But it seems that th often not productive, especially in the case of back pain. Back pain, afterheadaches and tiredness,has become the third most common reason for people tovisit their doctors. Painful backsnow account for millions of days off work. Lumbar(腰部的)pains are partly theprice humans pay for taking their forelimbs off the ground, but they aremade worse by a sedentary(久坐不动的 ) lifestyle. Lack of exercise slowly decreases theflexibility and strength of muscles, sothat it is more difficult to take pressure off the site of pain. Exer- cise isessential. It releases endorphins (内啡肽) , the body's "feel-good"chemicals, which are naturalpainkillers. In fact,these are so important that researchers are now looking for drugs that canmaintain a comfortable level ofendorphins in the body. Most people who go to afamily doctor complaining of pain are prescribed pain-killing drugs rather thanexercise. Since finding the cause of backache is not so easy,doctors frequentlydo not know the precise cause of the discomfort,and as the pain continues,sufferers end up taking stronger doses or a series of different drugs."It's crazy, "says Dr. Brasseur,a therapist at the InternationalAssociation for the Study of Pain. "Some of them are taking differentdrugs prescribed by different doctors I've just seen a patient who was takingtwo drugs which turned out to be the same thing under different names. " A generation of new painclinics now operates on the basis that drugs are best avoided. Once pa- tientshave undergone the initial physical and psychological check up, theirmedication is cut down as much as possible. Taking patients off drugs alsoprepares them for physical activity. In some pain-reliefclinics,patients begin the day with muscle contraction and relaxationexercises, followed by an hour on exercise bikes. Later in the day, they practice tai chi(太极 ) , self-defense, and deep thought. This compares with anaverage of two-and-a-half hours' physiotherapy(理疗)a week in a traditional hospital program. "The idea is tostrengthen and to increase long-lasting energy,flexibility, andconfidence,"explains Bill Wiles,a consultant pain doctor in Liverpool. "Patients undergoing this therapy getback to work and resume healthy active lifestyles much sooner than thosesubjected to more conservative treatment. " To treat pain, patients should stop moving around