Many people, all over the world deal with chronic pain on a daily basis. They experience a variety of symptoms that prevent them from exercising, sleeping, and living a normal life. Chronic pain can affect your mood, your work, and even your social and personal life. Most chronic pain conditions do not have cures, leaving many to deal with the debilitating symptoms. The best that can be done, in many cases, is to find coping methods that reduce the symptoms to live a well functioning life.
Attempt to develop an exercise plan. For many chronic pain conditions, exercise is important. A lack of exercise can actually worsen symptoms. Milder forms of exercise such as yoga, meditation, and walking can be used for those who struggle with daily exercise plans. A physician can also help develop a workout plan that is safe, depending on the person’s specific chronic pain condition.
It can also be helpful to work up to a daily exercise plan in steps. Going from lack of any physical activity to a full work out plan is not only difficult, but can also be dangerous. Activity levels should be slowly increased, paying attention to pain levels and refraining from activities that make the pain worse. Those with chronic back pain conditions may have to find ways to strengthen the back, without further harming it.
Change eating habits. Diet affects the body more than we think. A diet that is full of sodium and sugar can actually increase inflammation levels, which is common in many chronic pain conditions. Those suffering with chronic migraines will see an increase in occurrences with some food choices. Keeping a food diary that associates pain levels with certain food choices can help a person better understand how their diet affects their chronic pain condition.
Visit a chiropractor regularly. Chiropractic’s have shown to be successful in the reduction of pain for many medical conditions. When the spine is misaligned, it can affect the back, neck, and shoulders. A poorly aligned spine can even cause chronic migraines. In a survey done by the National Institutes of Health, 27% of Americans said low back pain was their most common type of pain, followed by headaches or migraines (15%). Chiropractic’s is an effective way to reduce the symptoms associated with these types of daily pains.
Physical therapy. Physical therapy is a great way to learn about how to increase specific muscles to make up for pain in others. For example, someone dealing with chronic lower back pain can work on increasing the strength of surrounding muscles to compensate. This is a method that is often used following an injury, allowing it to heal. However, it is also effective for those who have constant pain in a specific area, such as the lower back or with chronic knee pain.
Work with a sleep specialist. Many chronic pain suffers struggle with getting a good night of sleep. A lack of quality sleep can also make the symptoms of your condition worse. A sleep specialist can work with you on tips for falling and staying asleep. In extreme conditions, they can monitor sleep patterns and correct common sleep problems throughout the night. Sleep studies can even help with chronic migraines, as many migraines are the result of deprived sleep.
Join a health center. There are many options available to those wishing to reduce their chronic pain symptoms. It can be difficult to learn all of the methods and to properly implement them. A health center looks at a person’s entire condition, including their problem areas and attempts to recommend and follow through on different methods of reducing the symptoms. They may be referred to a back specialist or to a medical professional who specializes in chronic migraines.
More than one quarter of Americans (26%) age 20 years and over, or an estimated 76.5 million Americans report that they have had a problem with pain of any sort that persisted for more than 24 hours in duration. The main goal of chronic pain is to reduce symptoms effectively. Following these suggestions can reduce your daily pain and help you achieve a more pain free life.
