Tips For Living With Chronic Pain
In Canada, almost 8 million, or one out of every five people, suffer from chronic pain at some point in their lifetime. An astounding number.
In this article, we will bring you a brief deep dive into the best ways of managing such pain so that you can once again focus on the more important aspects of life. If you suffer from chronic pain or know somebody that does, then this article is for you. Keep reading to find out more.
What Is Chronic Pain?
Like most things in life, to understand how we best solve a problem, we must first establish a clear understanding of what the problem actually is. Deciphering how best to live with chronic pain is no different.
So, what is it exactly?
Chronic pain, if you didn’t already know, is a persistent, long-standing pain that continues past normal recovery periods. It is also referred to as ongoing pain that materializes alongside persistent health conditions. The level of pain experienced can range anywhere from mild discomfort to complete and utter debilitation. This will depend on the root cause and the individual in question experiencing the persistent pain. The pain can present itself as alternating “on” – “off” signals or simply just continuously present itself on an ongoing basis.
Who Suffers From Chronic Pain? What Causes It?
Now that we have established a base understanding of what the issue is, you may be asking who experiences this suffering and what causes it?
As we briefly mentioned, it can be caused by ongoing health conditions, and this is where most chronic ailments are found. It is not restricted to a certain age category or gender, although sometimes falsely assumed to be solely correlated to old age. Common conditions that present chronic pain are as follows;
- Arthritis
- Diabetes (all types)
- Cancers
- Back Conditions (slipped discs, fractures, tissue damage)
- Headaches (tension headaches, eye strain, migraines)
What Is the Impact Of Chronic Pain?
Unfortunately, chronic pain can have a profound negative effect on individuals suffering from its consequences. As it is never-ending and continuously follows you everywhere you go, it tends to seep into absolutely every facet of life. If the pain is persistently sharp and debilitating enough, it can completely remove you from your social and work life. This can have disastrous mental health implications on a person. Oftentimes chronic pain sufferers slip into depressive mental states as a result of their never-ending pain.
We strongly advocate the importance of not letting such hurdles in life overwhelm you. We recommend taking every step available at your disposal to assist your body in coping with persistent pain. To help you do so, we have compiled a list of the best actions we have found that you can implement today to manage to live with chronic pain. Read on below to find out what they are.
Our Top Tips For Managing Chronic Pain
Firstly, we must clarify that this is not medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any major changes that may impede the recovery or management of your chronic pain.
However, we have observed in the past that these tips garner some fantastic healing results with individuals experiencing ongoing pain. We would highly recommend implementing the ones that you believe will work best for you.
Healthy Diet
First and foremost, we would say a healthy diet is key. As the old adage states, “you are what you eat.”
What is a healthy diet?
This differs greatly from person to person as everyone’s body is built differently. However, we can generalize to some extent and advocate reducing or completely removing all negatively impacting consumables entering your body. Some examples include alcohol, smoking, refined sugar, and excessive carbohydrates. We would instead suggest implementing a clean food regimen of meats, vegetables, and fruits in place of these.
Exercise
Exercise = happy, pain-free, relaxed body.
It really is that simple. Happy endorphins received from exercise block pain signals, so you severely reduce suffering within the body. Not only that, but exercise builds muscle, reduces heart disease, controls blood glucose levels, keeps weight down, and so much more. If your chronic pain allows it, we propose finding an exercise regimen that works for you and applying it to your life.
Reduce External Stress Factors
Influential factors that unnecessarily increase anxiety, depression, and anger all lead to elevated stress levels, which impact the body’s sensitivity to pain. If you can pinpoint areas where this might be occurring in your life, we recommend removing the causation where possible.
Expel Accumulated Tension
In a similar light, your body may hold onto tension that is caused by stress. There are many ways to alleviate this agitated rigidity held onto by the body. We encourage you to attempt some of these to see which works best for you;
- Deep Breathwork
- Meditation
- Massages
- Acupuncture
- Yoga
- Cupping Therapy
Get Support
We all fall off the rails of discipline from time to time, especially when suffering from chronic pain. It can get tough staying motivated enough to stay on track managing chronic suffering all day, every day, day in and day out, by yourself. Just know that you are not alone and that you don’t have to do it by yourself.
Why not join a support group online or in-person? If that seems like it is out of your comfort zone, why not reach out to some family or friends? You can ask them to check in with you every now and then to make sure you’re staying accountable to yourself. It can be a huge boost of encouragement to know others are right there by your side to help you whenever you may fall and not give up.
Staying Positive
Chronic pain can be very challenging to live with at times, but all is not lost. Incorporating some of the helpful tips we have provided should help you to manage your chronic pain and get back to the more important things in life again.
