Effective Chronic Pain Management Tips

Chronic pain can take a toll on a person and get in the way of their ability to live their lives to the fullest extent possible.When it comes to managing your chronic pain, there are several remedies you can try at home that can provide you with the relief you’re looking for.

Our experts put together their top four tips to managing chronic pain efficiently and effectively. Let’s discuss medication management, the use of exercise and stretching, reducing stress, and staying social, and how each of these tips is able to help reduce your chronic pain.

1. Use Medications Appropriately

Whether you’re using prescription medications to manage chronic pain or over-the-counter pain management products, it’s important to keep track of what you’re putting into your body each and every day. Consider making a medication management plan for yourself, either alone or with the help of your pain management doctor.

Keeping an updated list of medications that you’re using and organizing them in a pill box can help you regulate how often you’re taking your pain management medication and ensure you’re not overusing or underusing anything. Also, we encourage you to consider setting alarms or reminders for yourself throughout the day to ensure you’re taking your medications at the right time and not missing any doses.

2. Consider Stretching and Exercising

It may sound counter-intuitive to be active when you’re in pain, but moving your body and keeping it strong is the best thing you can do to reduce chronic pain. Exercise doesn’t have to be rigorous – consider taking a long walk with a friend ortaking a yoga class once or twice a week. Any movement that can keep your muscles active and your flexibility enhanced can reduce your disability and therefore, reduce your pain in the long-term.

If you’re unsure where to begin with stretching and an exercise regimen, talk to your pain management doctor. They may be able to provide you with resources like physical therapy referrals or recommendations to a local gym to help motivate you in getting active.

3. Reduce Tension and Stress

Increased stress and tension can wreak havoc on the body, especially in patients who suffer from chronic pain. It’s easy for those with chronic pain to get into a cycle of feeling hopelessness and worry over the pain they’re experiencing.However, this creates a cycle when tension and stress exacerbatepain even further.

We encourage those suffering from chronic pain and chronic stress/tension to consider exercises that may help reduce pain, as well as any tension or stress. These techniques may include massage therapy, at-home meditation, or yoga classes. We also encourage patients to consider speaking with a mental health professional, so they can talk their feelings out with someone who can truly help them.

4. Stay Social

Chronic pain affects more than just how you feel physically – it can begin to affect how you feel mentally and emotionally, as well. Staying social with your friends, coworkers, and family members can help you reduce side effects of your chronic pain, like depression and feelings of loneliness.

We encourage our patients to consider going out to dinner with their family members once a week or scheduling an outing with their friends on the weekends. Or, think about the things you used to enjoy doing with others before you were struggling with chronic pain. Recreate some of those moments of joy with those you love with new activities that won’t trigger or worsen your pain. They’ll be happy to support you in any way they can.

Pain Management Doctor Near Me

If you’re looking for a high-quality pain management specialist in your area, consider seeing the expert providers at Advanced Bone & Joint. Our team of orthopedic professionals, podiatrists, and more are proud to offer comprehensive, individualized care to men and women in St. Peters and Wentzville, MO. In addition to pain management, we are proud to offer orthopedic services, sports medicine, and diagnostic imaging.

If you have any questions about the services Advanced Bone & Joint can offer you and your loved ones, we encourage you to give us a call today at (636) 229-4222. To request an appointment with one of our expert providers, please use our convenient online appointment request form.