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Managing Your Chronic Pain: regaining control of your life Living with pain is pain taking over your life? Do feel isolated or even helpless? Being in pain can be exhausting. You may find you ache trouble working, sleeping, or just doing day –to-day tasks. But you can learn to manage pain, feel better, and regain control of your life.What is Chronic Pain? Chronic pain is long-lasting pain due to a condition that can’t be cured or easily treated. In some cases, the exact cause of this pain can’t be found. Chronic pain is a serious medical problem that may: - Seem to control your life - Lead to depression, anxiety, anger, and personality changes - Affect work, sleep, relationships, sexuality, your overall health, and other aspects of a normal life Myths about pain People may say, “It can’t be real-you look fine.” Or you may hear,”You’ll just have to learn to live with it.” In fact: You can be in real pain and not look ill. You don’t have to “just live with it.” With time and some help, you can learn methods for controlling pain and living well. Tools for Coping with Pain Control of chronic pain is done mainly through self management. This means that you take an active role. It doesn’t mean that you are alone. Your health care providers will help you learn methods for coping with pain. The tools you may use may include • Exercise • Mind/body therapies • Leading a healthier life • Chiropractic care To manage your pain well, you’ll need support from your family, friends, and healthcare providers. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help. Setting Goals You can function better and reduce pain. But it may not be possible for you to be completely free of pain. Don’t put off your life until the pain stops or is cured. Instead, set goals for improving your quality of life such as: • Sleeping through the night most nights • Returning to work or other activities • Going out with friends a certain number of times each month Pain affects your life. Your sleep, mood, activity, and energy level are all disrupted by pain. Being tired, depressed, and out of shape makes the pain worse and harder to cope with. In managing your pain you have to break the pain cycle and find the right treatment. Chiropractic is a natural approach and most effective when combined with self-care. |
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