One Perspective That May Offer Some Useful Answers
We’ve all lived with pain. If you’ve lived a challenging or adventurous life, you might have lived with more than many. Where the difference comes, is when pain becomes your constant companion. Constant pain that is endemic affects all aspects of your life, but most importantly your sense of control, and your ability to determine what you will do, and when.
Medical statisticians claim that 3-10 adults live with chronic pain, with an obviously larger percentage of the group being of the oldest cohort. Our bodies degrade over time, and more so when we take part in activities prone to causing damage. The effects are cumulative, and the outcomes chronic, once enough damage has been done.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “as pain symptoms develop and expand, it’s hard to pinpoint the location of the problem due to the multiple pathways involved. How you interact in response to pain can magnify the experience of pain, including:
Stressful life experiences
Mental health issue, including depression, anxiety and social isolation
Depressed ability to do the things you enjoy doing
Overexertion or under-exertion.”
What everyone who suffers with chronic pain knows all too well, ids that there is no single cure for chronic pain. What may work for one, may have no effect on another. But, there are some strategies that seem beneficial and they relate as much to mental activities as they do physical. All too often, chronic pain sufferers expect and anticipate a pharmaceutical answer to provide solace. But what often transpires is people develop a dependency on drugs, which quickly affects them physically, socially and mentally, leading to even greater problems.
That is not to say that medications do not have a place in a strategy to deal with pain, but it must be episodic, not continuous. Finding a methodology that works for you is essential. It may not be the recommended response for others, but if it works for you, then essentially, that’s all that matters. Here are some of the strategies that work for me.
Exercise, from stretching to strength training can be of real value. Those who choose to do nothing will often find that in time they will lack range of motion, and a deterioration in physical strength. Though it may be painful, movement is essential, otherwise one will lose flexibility and with it free movement of the limb or joint in question.
Meaningful activities will enhance the release of endorphins which will help attenuate pain. Use moderation and take breaks as necessary, but continue to do what you love. For me motorcycling and trekking are things that I will not give up, though pain attends most of the time. Though serious injuries have been a part of my life for a good part of my life, I’ve managed to continue doing those things that give me satisfaction. Rides require more breaks and trekking is mostly at lower inclines and altitudes than used to be the case.
Mindfulness or meditation helps as well. Staying focused on the moment, especially doing activities you love, often stops the pain feedback process from taking hold. Use all your senses to focus on stimuli not connected to pain, and isolate each in turn. Sight, sound, touch are all stimuli that help one disconnect from pain inputs.
Getting enough sleep is essential, which of course is problematic when one experiences pain. Analgesics can help, but moderate exercise and stretching before sleep seems to help.
More importantly, I have found that three things, often not mentioned have a profound effect on the reduction of pain and inflammation. First, drop sugar and all sugar substitutes out of your diet. Sugar is a toxin that feeds inflammation.
Avoid alcohol. Alcohol is a downward slope that will ultimately lead to even greater issues, including inflammation and systemic medical problems over time.
An anti-inflammatory diet, one that is high in antioxidants, and low in starches, which will be converted to sugar in the body is requisite. Lastly, breathing exercises can help in removing the focus on pain and its source.
I have reached a point with two particular injuries where the medical community, has no answers. Surgery is unlikely to create an improvement in either mobility or pain management, and less dexterity and freedom of movement is likely the only guaranteed outcome.
I hope all of you can find the means and methods to alleviate some if not most of your pain. Unfortunately, aging is a natural degenerative condition that requires we do everything possible physically to diminish its impacts on our daily lives.
Ciao and good luck.
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