3 tips that may help manage your pain
The more we learn about pain, the more we realise how much we don’t know! Pain is more than just the body’s response to an injury and the level of pain does not always correlate to the level of ‘damage’. Other factors are often involved which can make chronic pain worse.
If you are struggling with chronic pain, here are 3 things to pay attention to which may help things feel more manageable:
- Sleep – this may seem obvious, but there is lots of evidence that shows reduced or disturbed sleep can cause hyperalgesia (an increased pain response) and may exacerbate certain types of pain such as headaches and muscle aches.
Of course, being in pain may inherently cause lack of sleep, but prioritising sleep by practicing relaxation techniques and going to bed earlier may help to increase the overall time and quality of sleep.
- Stress – in patients with chronic pain, stress can make symptoms worse, by increasing levels of the hormone cortisol, which over time may cause inflammation and pain. Although, being in pain can be a worrying time, staying as relaxed as possible and trusting advice from healthcare providers or other professionals may help pain levels feel more manageable.
- Fear – pain can be a scary experience, and you may feel the need to avoid certain activities through fear of causing more damage. Although activity modification can be a useful tool to help calm symptoms down, avoiding physical activity all together can have a detrimental effect on mental and physical health, and potentially prolong the time you experience pain. It may be useful to work with a Physiotherapist to determine what movements are safe and non-aggravating for you, to keep you moving as much as possible.
As with most things, dealing with pain is not a ‘one size fits all’ situation. Here at Elevate, we pride ourselves in providing a holistic approach and use a wide range of treatment techniques to ensure we find one that works for the individual. This approach has allowed us to help and guide 100’s of patients in reducing their pain!