Americans are plagued with dozens of medical conditions causing chronic pain and fatigue, including arthritis, low back pain, fibromyalgia and war-related injuries. The American Osteopathic Association estimates that 76 million Americans are suffering from chronic pain. One effective therapy for some types of chronic pain is regular physical exercise.
Step 1
Create a computer file or buy a notebook, and keep a record of your pain and fatigue symptoms on a daily basis for two weeks. Note the contexts and times in which your pain episodes occur. Record how much time you spend sitting, lying down, standing and walking.
Step 2
Contact your general practitioner and the physician specialist for your particular illness. Show them your pain journal. Ask them if your medical condition is one that will respond positively to exercise.
Step 3
Get in touch with online and in-person patient support groups and associations for your medical condition and ask if any reports exist which contain exercise regimens specifically designed for your type of illness or injury. One example is an essay by the Arthritis Foundation, "Top Three Types of Exercise," which contains descriptions of exercises that are helpful for arthritis pain and links to illustrative exercise videos.
Step 4
Review the exercise regimens that are suggested for medical conditions other than your own. See if you can use or adapt any of those exercises to your medical condition. For example, the Veterans Administration has released a downloadable PDF report, "Exercise to Help Manage Chronic Pain and/or Fatigue." While the program is designed for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia patients, its recommendations can be modified to apply to other illnesses and injuries.
Step 5
Ask your physician for a referral to a physical therapist. Bring your pain journal and the information that you have accumulated about exercise ideas for your medical condition to your first appointment. Ask your physical therapist to help you design a program carefully tailored to your current pain and fatigue problems.
Step 6
Start doing your exercises on a daily basis once or twice each day. Write down the exercises and how they affect you in your pain journal. See your physical therapist every week at the beginning of your exercise program, and have your physical therapist modify exercises if they are not working or need fine-tuning.
Step 7
Continue doing your exercises, even if your pain starts to disappear or diminish substantially. Consult your physical therapist about increasing the number of sets, frequency and intensity of the exercises as you become comfortable with them.
