If you find yourself in a lot of pain due to a chronic condition, it can naturally feel an unbearable part of your life. Whether you have a chronic condition like fibromyalgia that causes pain or you find yourself feeling uncomfortable after eating certain foods, there are things that you can do to help you deal with chronic pain, including the following.
Tracking Your Pain Level
If you want to treat your pain effectively, you need to keep a regular log of your daily pain score, which can help when you’re dealing with your doctor. You can note your pain level between 1 and 10 and what activities you did that day, and this can give the doctor a good understanding of how you are physically functioning.
The Right Levels of Comfort
You know what will make you feel more comfortable in that situation. If you are experiencing something like scoliosis, certain mattresses can help relieve scoliosis pain, but when you are out and about, you also need to have your preferred method of “comfort blanket.” This could be a hot water bottle if you are experiencing period pain, or it could be about learning the right breathing techniques to help you breathe through the difficulties.
Learning to Reduce Stress
We have to remember that, on a physiological level, stress causes us to tense up which means that we are going to feel any type of pain more. Any negative feelings like anxiety or stress can increase our body’s sensitivity to pain. If you learn to take control over the stresses, this could provide some level of relief. Pain is, in part, a mental component and if we are trying to desensitize ourselves to pain, learning the best ways to reduce stress and promote relaxation can make a big difference. Meditation is one of those things that is incredibly popular but there are also techniques like progressive muscle relaxation. Tense and relax each part of your body in order going through your body will help you instantly feel more relaxed, and anecdotally, it has proven successful.
Understand the Right Diet for You
Diet is something that may not necessarily factor in people experiencing chronic pain. However, we must remember that there are certain things that may appear healthy but can still result in something like joint pain. Vegetables that are part of the deadly nightshade family, for example, are associated with joint pain. Additionally, if you have an intolerance to food like wheat or gluten, this can also have an impact on your physical symptoms. Additionally, vices like alcohol and smoking may seem like good short-term coping mechanisms, but alcohol can make your sleep problems worse and smoking can worsen circulation problems.
Learn To Distract Yourself From the Pain
While it’s not completely mindset oriented if you can learn how to focus on things that you like doing when experiencing bouts of pain this can keep your mind busy and therefore, you don’t focus on the pain. It might not be possible to avoid chronic pain, but if you find yourself experiencing it on a regular basis, some of these approaches may help you to lead a better quality of life that you are in control of.
