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Pain ManagementI want you to think of chronic pain management in the broadest sense; it encompasses anything and everything you can do to 1) prevent pain, 2) keep pain from occurring as often, 3) decreasing the intensity of your pain, or 4) minimizing the effect it has on your ability to enjoy your life.
Medical Management Or Self-Management?In Medical Management the bulk of the responsbility for managing pain lies with the doctor, and the person with pain is in a more passive role. Most of the discussion will relate to diagnosing, finding physical causes, and looking for a cure, whether it be through medications or passive physical procedures like surgery or injections.While we focus here on self-management, we do offer some resources on medical pain relief. You can access that information by using the navigation bar to your left, or following this link to the medical pain relief page.Self-Management of pain has an emphasis on healthy coping with pain and related problems. You as the client assume a more active role, and you therefore accept more of the responsibility for pain management. You start looking at all the things you can do to impact issues of pain, disability, depression, and physical activity. While both Medical Management and Self-Management are important, at Chronic-Pain-Alternatives.com we focus our energies on self-management. The medical establishment already puts enough emphasis on medical management, and for most people the piece of the puzzle that's missing is self-management. It rarely works out well if you just put yourself in your doctor's hands and wait for him or her to find the right diagnosis or the right pill. You can learn self-management of your pain, and you should be treated as an equal partner in the process of pain management.
Self-Management GoalsOne key part of good chronic pain management involves setting some specific self-management goals. You need to know what your short-term goals are, as well as your long-term goals. One obvious goal is to have a reduced level of pain, but other goals may have to do with areas like daily physical activities, emotions, stress management, relationships, or use of pain medication. Click here for some examples of Goals for Self-Managing Your Pain.Pain Management EQUALS Stress ManagementStress and pain go together like...bacon and eggs, Laurel and Hardy, you get the idea. It can help to go beyond just saying that "Pain is stressful," and be really specific about the multiple ways that pain can cause stress. Take a couple minutes to look at the details of pain and stress reduction.Seeing the connection between stress and pain usually motivates people to take stress management seriously. I hope you will, because it is a very potent tool in managing pain. The term stress management refers to a wide range of different things we can do to help decrease our stress, and ultimately decrease our feelings of pain. There are many different, effectives methods of stress management. Here are just a few that may work for you: Relaxation Training Spiritual Support Professional Counseling Having friends and family to talk to Physical Exercise Setting goals and establishing priorities Getting rid of negative thoughts and developing positive healthy thought patterns
Mindfulness stress reduction
is a very specific technique that I've found to be very effective.
Problem-Solving in Pain ManagementIt's easy to get overwhelmed with all the decisions that need to be made when you have chronic pain. Life can get very complicated.You might find it helpful to try using a structured routine for solving problems. There are several that all work fine, but I like the SOCS system, which stands for: Situation - What is the problem that needs to be solved? Options - What are your alternatives, the different things you could do? Consequences - For each option, what do you think is likely to happen if you choose it? Solution - Based on the possible consequences, what appears to be the best thing to try at this time?
There's no pressure to feel like you have to get it 100% right the first time, people who successfully manage their pain have usually gone through a lot of trial and error to get to that point. That's a lot of what we do with our coaching clients, help them stay focused on their goals and maintain their motivation as they work their way towards their best life. Remember, Don't Give Up.....Ever This page has given you some general ideas on how to go about managing stress and managing pain, but really this entire site is about pain management, so stay and look around.
Chronic Pain, Your Office and ErgonomicsSometimes there is a dramatic event that starts your chronic pain, but for a lot of you, it creeps up on you. One source of strain on the body is the workplace, our desks, chairs, and computer screens. Check this page on Chronic Pain and Ergonomics to see if you may need to make changes in your work environment.There are multiple articles on alternative ways of managing pain, but here are some direct links. Acupuncture for Chronic Pain Management Pain Education - Information is Power Return from the Pain Management Page to the Home Page
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