What Does It Take To Manage Chronic Pain?
In the past, the pain was something that people just dealt with by resting, possibly taking some medication and just letting time heal your wounds. Unfortunately, resting like this could make the pain worse since you’re not rehabilitating back into your regular lifestyle. For instance, back pain has to be treated by using your back and getting your muscles used to the movements again. If you rest too much, your back muscles will stiffen and weaken along with your bones. In addition, sleeping for long periods at home in isolation would hurt your mental health as well. You might feel lonely, useless or unproductive which causes stress and anxiety.
In other words, sitting at home and resting isn’t a good way to manage chronic pain, despite what many people have said. The longer you rest and wait to do something about your pain, the harder it’ll be to fit back into a regular lifestyle in the future. So what can you do about chronic pain? What does it take to truly manage a condition that causes long-term pain? In this article, we’ll be covering some important points that will help you manage chronic pain.
The four golden rules of managing chronic pain
There are four distinct rules that you must follow if you want to manage chronic pain.
Continue your regular lifestyle as best as you can instead of limiting yourself.
Get plenty of exercises to keep your muscles in action.
Visit physical therapy to help rehabilitate you and examine your muscle condition.
Take painkillers only when needed to help lessen some of the pain.
Next, we’ll break down each of these rules.
1. Continue as normal
It’s important to try and continue your life without letting the pain get to you. This can be incredibly hard and it can often feel depressing when you’re sitting at work in pain. However, trying to continue your regular life will keep you distracted and help you return to a sense of normalcy. Of course, you should always speak to your boss and let them know about your chronic pain so they can help you cope with difficult parts of your job. If you’re still recovering, it may help to ease yourself back into work with shorter days if possible.
2. Exercise
Exercising is a great way to keep your muscles and joints working. Resting too much can lead your muscles and joints to stiffen because you’re not using them. However, too much exercise can also cause more damage, making it difficult for your body to recover. As such, it’s best to start with some light exercise that doesn’t strain you. Some good options include walking, using an exercise bike or doing yoga. Start slow and make sure you don’t overexert yourself. You should feel yourself slowly building up your muscles again and getting used to the motions. As you start to recover and feel more confident, you can pick up the pace and increase the intensity of your workouts.
Exercise needs to become a regular part of your lifestyle if you want to recover quickly. Make sure you try to get in a bit of exercise whenever possible and try to be active every day instead of choosing days where you’re less likely to feel pain. It may also help to work out or exercise with friends and family members so they can help encourage you.
3. Physical therapy
Next, make absolutely sure that you attend physical therapy to help you get used to using your muscles and joints again. This is something that your doctor should recommend to you, but you may want to question them about it if they don’t bring it up first. You could also consider seeking help from a chiropractor as an alternate way to deal with pain in your body. Again, you could speak to your doctor and ask for a recommendation. They should be more than happy to point you in the right direction and put you on the road to recovery.
4. Painkillers
Painkillers can be incredibly helpful at keeping the pain away. However, strong painkillers can be addictive, especially if they’ve been prescribed by doctors. The last thing you want is to build up a dependence on painkillers, such as taking them at regular intervals throughout the day. Building a dependency can be incredibly dangerous and is akin to developing a drug addiction. Only take painkillers when absolutely necessary and consult your doctor if you feel that you might be developing an addition to them.