How to Prevent Chronic Pain from Taking Over Your Life
Posted on July 2, 2021
When you live with a chronic pain condition, you understands what it means to say that chronic pain takes over your life. Ongoing pain, day after day, can have a tremendously negative impact on the your life.
Here’s what sufferers have reported about their how daily lives have been affected by their chronic pain conditions:
- Pain sets in, either due to traumatic injury, physical deterioration or underlying physical condition.
- Typical daily activities are altered in order to avoid exacerbating the pain.
- Regular routine is disrupted as the pain sufferer adapts to new ways of performing daily tasks.
- Overall lifestyle begins to be affected by the changes made in daily activities and routines:
a.) Lifestyle may become more sedentary as energy is drained
b.) Increased disconnect from social relationships
c.) Emotional strain and isolation grow more intense
- As a result of all these changes, pain sufferers may experience depression, anxiety, anger, stress and other mental disorders, which further intensifies the pain symptoms that started the life-changing cycle to begin with.
These examples represent a typical progression of real-life changes taking place in the lives of many chronic pain sufferers. Because of such life-altering changes, it’s no surprise that pain conditions can transform a person into someone very different than they used to be.
Pain sufferers sometimes resign themselves to accepting their chronic pain as a new ‘normal’, but it doesn’t really have to be that way. By recognizing these pain-related issues and actively working to avoid them, the sufferer can take back their life from chronic pain.
Here are a few tips for hindering the lifestyle impacts of chronic pain:
- Try to get exercise — of any type — every day
Even if your pain condition prevents you from performing certain physical activities, ask your pain physician what exercises may be safe for your individual situation.
Movement will not only help to keep your body more supple, but the natural endorphins from exercise will help to improve your overall disposition.
- Find ways to reduce stress
Most people already know that stress can be very detrimental to the mind and body, and contributes to a significant increase in chronic pain symptoms. Reducing stress will benefit not only your physical condition, but also your emotional outlook and mental capacity to cope with your pain.
There are numerous ways to diminish stress, whether by deep breathing, meditation or other beneficial exercise. Find what works for you and do yourself a favor by sticking with it consistently.
- Maintain healthy dietare habits
What you eat and drink can have truly measurable impacts on your physical and mental well-being. Consuming the right things can help to heal the body, ease pain, and facilitate a more pleasant emotional disposition.
- Reduce or stop alcohol and tobacco usage
Alcohol and cigarettes can worsen chronic pain and interfere with critical sleep cycles. To help control and better cope with your pain, cut back on drinking and smoking, or better yet, cut them out of your life altogether.
- Get your mind off your pain, as much as possible
This is more easily said than done when it comes to persistent chronic pain, but it can be done, to varying degrees. You CAN refuse to let chronic pain take away the things that bring joy to your heart and peace in your mind.
Whether it be a hobby you truly love, such as gardening or painting, or connecting with people whose company you enjoy, make a conscious effort to engage in what makes you feel happiest. Set goals, make plans, stay busy and connected… these actions will help distract you from your discomforts, and ensure that pain doesn’t render your life unrecognizable.
Has Chronic Pain Taken Over Your Life?
At Riverside Pain Physicians, we want to help you take back your life so you can once again enjoy the activities and connections you love. Our board-certified pain experts will provide you with comprehensive, personalized care to determine the most effective treatment option(s) for your individual pain condition, and help you find the best possible solutions for getting back to a pain-free lifestyle.
If you are tired of living with chronic pain and want more information about options for minimizing or eliminating your suffering, call Riverside Pain Physicians today at 904.389.1010 or click here to set up an appointment online at one of our clinics.
Tags: Chronic Pain Management, Chronic Pain Treatment Jacksonville, Pain Prevention, pain-management