A Holistic Guide on How to Live Well and Stay Happy Despite Chronic Pain

Chronic pain can reduce your strength, flexibility, and endurance, limiting your mobility and making it difficult for you to execute daily chores. In medical terms, for the pain to be chronic, it must last for a minimum of 12 weeks and may affect any part of your body. Typical causes of chronic pain include trauma, surgery, cancer, arthritis, nerve damage, and bad posture. According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, chronic pain is the most common cause of long-term disability in America. Some handy tips for handling chronic pain better and leading a fulfilling life:

Practice Meditation and Deep Breathing to Aid in Relaxation 

Deep breathing and meditation are proven techniques that help the body relax and ease the impact of pain. Meditation that involves harnessing the soothing ability of repetition results in the body relaxing as does deep breathing. For best results, you need to find a peaceful place, a comfortable position and block thoughts that distract you. Fill your abdomen with air and let it out several times like a balloon.

Reduce Your Stress Level

Several factors, like anxiety, anger, depression, etc., can cause stress that increases the body’s sensitivity to aches and pain. You can get relief to some extent by reducing your stress level and relaxing. While different techniques work for different people, you can try listening to calming music, practicing mental imagery relaxation, or progressive muscle relaxation. You can practice any method that reduces stress, even if it is as simple as a warm bath before retiring for the night or reading a book undisturbed, says a pain specialist at a leading Summerfield Pain control clinic.

Exercise to Benefit from the Release of Natural Endorphins

Exercising has multiple benefits. In addition to strengthening muscles, reducing weight, decreasing the risk of heart disease, controlling blood pressure, checking the rise of blood sugar, and more, it also releases mood-lifting endorphins that block the signals of pain sent out by the nervous system. Your doctor is the best person to advise you on the types of exercise that would be most beneficial, keeping in mind your underlying medical conditions.

Quit Smoking and Reduce Alcohol Consumption 

Smoking can significantly worsen chronic pain besides being harmful to your general health. Evidence proves smoking is injurious to health and may exacerbate chronic pain due to its negative effect on blood circulation and the risk of heart disease. While consuming alcohol may seem a good idea to dull your pain, it can cause dehydration and negatively impact your health, making it difficult for you to sleep well. By reducing your alcohol intake, you can improve your quality of life, sleep better, and reduce your level of pain.

Conclusion

You should appreciate you are not the only one fighting chronic pain. You should learn more about why you experience pain and how to deal with it. You should consider joining a chronic pain support group to find out how others manage their pain issues and take strength and energy from them to cope with the pain. Depression is common fallout of chronic pain, and you may benefit by consulting a mental health professional.