Chronic pain is a huge challenge. The pain can creep everywhere in your life. It never lets you alone. It changes everything – your routines, your everyday activities, your work, your relationship. Enduring the constant pain is extremely stressful and can lead to depression, anxiety and even a sense of terror.
However, it is possible to manage chronic pain and still live well. Here are a few tips:
Acceptance and adaptation: Chronic pain changes your life. If you are able to accept that this change is real and probably permanent, you reduce your stress levels dramatically. Find creative ways to adapt and enjoy your life. Both the small things and the big things can be meaningful.
Reach out in a positive way: This is part of the ‘accept and adapt’ approach. Chronic pain impacts your working life and your relationships. Reach out and inform people in your life. Make it clear that you are in charge of your pain management and that you are not defined by your pain. Keep communicating!
Biofeedback: Biofeedback is a technique that allows you to control involuntary body functions, such as heart rate and muscle tension. Muscle tension has a strong impact on chronic pain. A trained professional can teach you biofeedback with the help of specialized equipment. When you have retrained yourself, you will be able to achieve muscle relaxation and a lower heart rate by yourself. The result is a much-reduced level of chronic pain.
Breathing and mindfulness: Deep breathing aids relaxation and modifies pain perception. Chronic pain is associated with the heightened reactivity of the central nervous system. The more relaxed you are, the more you can down-regulate that reactivity. Mindfulness meditation takes this a step further. By focusing on the input of the senses, by connecting with the present, you can take the focus away from your pain, and your anxious or depressive thoughts. Meditation works best when you practice it regularly.
Distraction techniques: Direct your attention to experiences in which you can fully immerse yourself. Watch a movie, read a book, listen to music, engage in passionate discussions and deep conversations. Fall in love. The emotional energy generated will temporarily take the focus away from your pain. Also, develop a selection of visual imagery that can take you to a ‘happy place.’ Go with your feelings and make the image of that place as rich and detailed as possible. Repeating positive phrases and affirmations can also help reprogram your brain.
Hypnosis: A trained hypnotherapist can put you into a deep trance and embed behavioral changes into your unconscious mind. This can be an excellent way to cope with chronic pain. Self-hypnosis is a relaxation technique that can be learned and may have an impact on how you experience your pain.
Support groups: You are not alone. Find a local support group or join an internet forum. Feeling singled out and excluded increases stress and therefore chronic pain. You can also learn from people who have been coping with chronic pain for a long time.
Stress reduction: Start new routines to decrease your stress levels as much as possible. Less stress means reduced pain.
Exercise: Carefully designed aerobic exercises relax your central nervous system. This means that your pain reactivity is also reduced. Over time, and with the right exercise routine, you can down-regulate your pain receptors.
Hydration: Don’t forget to stay hydrated! Dehydration exacerbates certain kinds of pain and puts a lot of stress on your body.
Chronic pain causes a lot of suffering. Don’t be too harsh with yourself. It is normal to feel weak and overwhelmed sometimes. But also, don’t despair. It is possible to cope with chronic pain and still live well. Don’t hesitate to seek the help of a professional counselor to ease the journey into your ‘new normal’.
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