Push Pause on Your Chronic Pain with These 6 Tips

Chronic Pain Therapy Tips Overview

Sometimes it’s the little things we do or don’t do that sabotage our best efforts to avoid pain. When you’re experiencing pain, it can seem to have a mind of its own. It may come and go at will. It likely takes a toll on your mood and your energy level. It can impact how you go about your everyday activities. You may think you’re doing all you can to keep pain under control, but sometimes even the most conscientious among us can unintentionally undermine our efforts to feel better. Medications can help manage pain symptoms, but there’s more to feeling better than just taking prescription pills. Lifestyle and attitude changes can also be key factors. Let’s look at some chronic pain therapy you can do mostly at home.

Thanks to sound advice from leading pain experts and people living with pain below, we’ve provided 6 activities that can help you soothe your chronic pain and improve your physical, mental and emotional well-being.

1) Challenge yourself to be more physically active

When you’re experiencing chronic pain, getting up and about may likely be the last thing you feel like doing. The idea of working out or going for a run or a bike ride may seem impossible. When you live with chronic pain, it’s likely that you often struggle to engage in physical activity out of fear of making your pain worse. But being sedentary can lead to stiff muscles and joints and cause your muscles and tendons to shorten, and that can lead to secondary sources of pain. In addition, living a sedentary lifestyle increases your risk of putting on weight, a risk that can worsen pain in your weight-bearing joints such as your hips, knees, ankles and feet. It can also cause pain in your neck and back.

Challenge yourself, but don’t overexert yourself. If you have arthritis in your joints, for example, swimming or aqua aerobics might work for you; the water’s natural buoyancy reduces impact and helps cushion the joints. Whatever you choose, start at a comfortable pace, take breaks as needed, and gradually increase the duration and intensity of your workouts.

“By handling your anger better, neither blasting away nor by ‘eating it,’ you actually can decrease your fibromyalgia pain,”

2) Chronic Pain Therapy Tip – Express your frustrations

Chronic musculoskeletal pain, especially lower back and neck pain, is often associated with feelings of anger or distress. A recent study at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago found that when people with chronic pain were told to actively suppress their anger during a frustrating task, their feelings became aggravated and pain more severe.

So what is the healthiest way to express such emotions while you’re experiencing pain? The National Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Association recommends being assertive, as that approach provides the best opportunity to resolve the problem at hand and to reduce your anger. “By handling your anger better, neither blasting away nor by ‘eating it,’ you actually can decrease your fibromyalgia pain,” according to the NFCPA. 

Acknowledge your listener and her/his needs when you express your emotions, but focus on your feelings to get your message across.

3) Chronic Pain Therapy Tip – Improve your sleep routine

Sleep can be a bit of a ‘which came first’ situation since poor or inadequate sleep can fuel pain, and then unrelieved pain can lead to poor sleep. But doctors agree: Getting too little or poor-quality sleep can intensifying feelings of pain and irritability, especially when you’re experiencing pain.

Sleeping with chronic pain can be difficult. Researchers have established that “depression and anxiety and struggles such as the inability to concentrate, disturbed sleep, pessimistic mood, fatigue and loss of motivation may give rise to adverse influences on a patient’s treatment and recovery process.”

Good sleep habits are essential, too. Set a consistent bedtime and wake time so you get the 7 or more hours of shut-eye per night that the CDC recommends for adults. Avoid caffeine and nicotine, which are stimulants, and alcohol, which can impair sleep. Exercise at least 4 hours before bedtime, and create a soothing sleep environment that’s dark, quiet and comfortable.

If you’re still having trouble, ask your doctor about a sleep aid. Some can cause daytime drowsiness or impaired thinking, which can be amplified if taken with opioid drugs, setting you up for mental fogginess the next morning. So be sure to tell any doctor prescribing a sleep aid if you’re taking an opioid or an analgesic. In that case, you may need to start with a lower-than-usual dose of a sleep drug.

4) Chronic Pain Therapy Tip – Check your posture

When you sit hunched over a computer at work or a steering wheel while driving, it puts stress on your thoracic spine and the muscles between the shoulder blades. This can cause back or neck pain, even in people who don’t have chronic pain. In fact, research has linked poor body posture with neck pain, headaches, temporomandibular (jaw) joint disorder, low back pain and other forms of chronic or recurring pain.

5) Chronic Pain Therapy Tip – Think positively

Sure, this is far easier said than done. But challenging yourself to steer clear of negative thoughts, especially when you’re experiencing pain, can keep you from falling into a downward spiral and help you focus on effective pain management tactics so you can feel better faster.

“Being positive all of the time when dealing with illness is unrealistic,” according to Tamara McClintock Greenberg Psy.D. “In fact, being excessively upbeat is sometimes linked with the denial of illness. Being Pollyannish or in denial can lead to negative psychological and even physical consequences. For example, avoiding the reality of illness can lead to people not taking care of themselves. What I recommend is finding a balance between acting falsely buoyant and feelings of despair. Being hopeful is reasonable. Complete disavowal of negative information about illness can be problematic; cautious optimism is often ideal.”

“People who are ill do best when they focus on what they can control—diet, exercise, and decisions about physicians and treatments,” according to Greenburg. “Attitude is important as well. Being positive can be helpful; patients should just make sure there are enough loved ones who can listen when the chips are down. People who are ill need friends and family who can tolerate hearing about all kinds of feelings.”

6) Be open with your doctor about your medications

When a physician prescribes a pain medication, think of it simply as a starting point. The reality is that the dosage will likely have to be adjusted, and you may have to try different drugs to find the one(s) that will sufficiently help you manage when you’re experiencing pain and without causing problematic side effects.

The American Pain Society set guidelines for healthcare providers that focus on 4 key points:

1. Establishing realistic pain goals for chronic pain therapy
2. Educating patient/caregivers on pain management goals and regimen
3. Consider pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment options and initiate therapy
4. Continually reassess patient’s pain and monitor for medication efficacy and side effects

The goal of zero pain may be impossible, but being open with your doctor about the pain you’re experiencing, other medications you’re taking and other treatments you are interested in trying will help her/him provide you with an effective treatment plan.