1. Take Control of Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is caused by disease or an injury that never healed correctly, or no discernible source at all. When you let pain rule your existence, you lose yourself in a cycle of self-despair. Your pain may lead to sleepless nights. Pain and insomnia together increase feelings of anxiety or depression, which in turn add to the pain you're experiencing. It's important to decide how you're going to treat and/or manage chronic pain. You may decide on a Plan A for the good days when you feel almost normal again, and a Plan B for days when pain is prevalent and constant. Having a defined approach for dealing with both good and bad days gives you some control over your life.
2. Find the Right Pain Specialist
Fighting chronic pain requires a team approach that involves you, friends or family and a health care professional. Health professionals come from a variety of backgrounds and philosophies, but what is important is that they listen and respond to you in a way that makes you feel better. Never continue going to a doctor who doubts your pain just because you've been going to her for years. If things don't improve, look for another healthcare provider who will take a more active approach. Some accredited healthcare facilities, such as hospitals or rehabilitation centers, offer chronic pain programs that use a multidisciplinary approach to treat chronic pain.
3. Medicate for Pain Management
Pain medication can best treat chronic pain when it's the right type of medicine in the right dosage. When a medicine doesn't work or has quit working, the answer isn't necessarily to increase your dosage. Many pain medications are addictive or dangerous when taken in higher dosages. Likewise, other medications can cause problems when you stop them abruptly. Work with a health care practitioner whom you trust to help you make the right medication choices. Explore non-medication pain relief with effective treatment options such as biofeedback or TENS.
4. Treat the Whole Self
Whether you're fighting fibromyalgia or a compressed disk, chronic pain treatment must involve the whole self. Individual or group counseling can help you work through anger and resentment. Relaxation and visualization exercises are also powerful means of addressing pain. If you devote yourself to finding a method to soothe emotional pain along with your physical pain, you will experience relief more quickly.
5. Fight Pain With Exercise
Many exercises have enormous therapeutic value to help you deal with chronic pain. Muscle pain often decreases with stretching or yoga, and those suffering from chronic pain due to arthritis often choose swimming or water aerobics for their therapeutic value.
