As we start to grow a little older, it is only natural that we may begin to suffer with some pain and aches in our every day lives. When we start to develop issues with pain in the body throughout the year of our lives it can make living our daily lives more difficult and it can also cause us issues. This is why it is so important for us to find ways in which we can manage muscle and joint pain every day to help keep us healthy and happy for much longer.
Choose a better mattress
When it comes to living a pain free life or managing your aches and pains it is important to make your bed as comfortable as you possibly can. The most important part of a comfortable bed is the mattress and choosing a mattress for back pain can make all the difference to your ability to sleep well each and every night. Take the time to choose a mattress which is best for you whether it be firm or soft, and test out a few different styles to find the best one. Sleeping well can not only help you stay energized each day but it will prevent you from straining muscles and joints during the night and needing to compensate during the day.
Try deep breathing
With all of the various methods out there to help us manage pain, one of the most important of these has to be lying down and deep breathing. If you have ever tried meditation then you should easily be able to do this. Essentially the idea for effective deep breathing involves you lying down on your back in a comfortable place, closing your eyes and taking long breaths. For example take a deep breath in and hold it for 3 seconds, breath out and do the same. During this time, you can start to turn your attention to the muscles in your face and neck and consciously relax them. As you take each breath in and out make sure to focus on the muscles in your neck, shoulders, arms, fingers, chest, abs and so forth until you reach your toes. As you consciously relax each muscle in your body you will notice a reduction in the pain you feel. Doing this once a day before you get out of bed or before you go to sleep can be a great thing.
Reduce stress
Adult life can be incredibly stressful and most of us go through a little bit of stress now and again. However it is the way we handle stress and deal with it which can have an impact on our mental and physical pain. When we are stressed our body biologically changes and we become more sensitive to pain and also to emotions. This is why when you are feeling stressed you might feel achy and tired and depressed. Make sure to take a look at your daily schedule and your lifestyle in general and work hard to reduce your stress. Take away some of your workload, go for a holiday, make more time for yourself at the end of the day. By freeing up more time for yourself and your own happiness, you will reduce your stress levels and as a result you will also be able to reduce the pain you feel each day.
Release endorphins
Endorphins are brain chemicals which are released in the body and help to combat feelings of pain as well as make us feel happier. If you are in a bad mood and you are also achy, endorphins can work to brighten up your mood and act as natural pain relief for the body. One of the things you can do for this is get out of the house and do some exercise. You could go for a walk, jog or a run and all of these things will make a positive impact on the body by releasing endorphins.
Build muscles
As well as endorphins exercise can have another big benefit for the body to reduce the pain we feel each day. Exercising every day or every few days will help make a big impact on the body because it will allow you to build strength in your muscles. When our muscles become stronger, they are able to cope with more strain and this in turn helps them to manage pain and cause less of an issue for you each day. This is why when you see elderly people on the TV who still compete in sports and lift weights, they look much healthier than others of a similar age. The more active you can be each day, the stronger your body will become and the happier you will be.
Cut down on alcohol
When you suffer every day from chronic pain it is more than understandable that you may feel the need to take a drink of wine after a long day to help you cope with the pain. Although this might help you in the short term, drinking alcohol before bed can be bad for you because it will disrupt your sleeping cycle and make it harder for you to get a full night’s sleep. Waking up tired is bad for the body and you’ll likely have a lot of aches and pains as a result of this.
Join a group
When you are the only person in your family or your friendship group who has a chronic pain issue, it can be a little hard for you to come to terms with your pain and get the support you need. Advice and support from loving family is great, but when you are the only one experiencing these things it can be hard for you to cope. This is why it is a great idea for you to head to a local support group with people who also suffer with the same aches and pains, or even look into joining a Facebook group for your illness where people from all over the world can come to share their thoughts and feelings as well as advice.
Don’t smoke
Smoking is a habit which you shouldn’t do at the best of times, however from a pain perspective there is a specific reason why. When we smoke, it can aggravate the arteries and veins and reduce circulation of blood around the body. If you already have some issues with your circulation, then it is important not to smoke because it will make things worse. Smoking can of course also block arteries and cause heart disease too.
Track yourself
If you want to make sure that you stay healthy and happy throughout the years of your life, it is important for you to know what triggers your pain and be able to stop it. For example let’s say that your pain is often caused by walking up the stairs: this might be an indication for you to move into a bungalow for easier living or think about a stair life for better access. The best way to know how to deal with your pain effectively is to take note every day of the activities you do as well as any pain you feel. If you notice patterns in your behaviour and pain flaring up, you need to think of things you can do to prevent pain in the future.
Learn pressure points
If you have never looked into acupuncture or similar treatments, the basic premise is to access parts of the nervous system in order to help relieve pain and help us feel more relaxed. The main aim of this is to access pressure points in the body which are connected to other parts of the body and will therefore have an effect on us overall. Because when you target pain at its core, you can apply the best medicine to heal it forever. Even CBD creams like those discussed on health.com can act as a topical version of pressure healing techniques due to their effectiveness. It is important for you to try and learn these pressure points because it can make all the difference to you when you are stuck in pain with no medicine or other method to calm it.
Think blood flow
If you suffer from migraines regularly this can be a great choice for you. When we look at the cause of headaches it is often due to the muscles in our head constricting and contracting. One of the main things which can help with this is to draw blood away from the head and into other parts of the body to relax the muscles. To draw heat away from the head you will need to fill a bathtub a few inches with warm water and sit in the bath. Take an ice pack to the back of your neck and rest your head on your knees. Let your hands hang in the bath too. Sit like this for 10 minutes or so and the blood from your head should have moved to other parts of the body with heat, and this will relieve your headache.
All of these methods can make a big impact on your ability to deal with pain and it will allow you to live a much happier and healthier life.
