Anyone living with chronic pain can readily tell you that it has a major impact on how they can live their daily lives. What most people can accomplish takes twice the time for someone in pain, if they can do anything at all! Of course, it depends on the part of the body in question and the ultimate diagnosis, but many of those pains we suffer from daily can be relieved with just a few helpful tips. Here are three methods you might want to explore.
1. Physical Therapy
While physical therapy, often referred to as simply physio, can relieve many of the types of chronic pain we suffer, it helps to know the leading causes of pain most responsive to physio. They include:
- Low Back Pain.
- Pelvic Pain.
- Shoulder Impingement.
And, of course, the pain resulting from injuries such as muscle strains, torn ligaments, and so forth. These are reported to be some of the most common types of chronic pain treated by experts, such as the ATP Physio Clinic. In fact, even pain resulting from Parkinson’s disease or strokes is successfully relieved with the proper therapeutic measures, so it can be said definitively that sufferers of chronic pain might want to immediately explore the benefits of physiotherapy.
2. Meditation and Guided Imagery
If you are thinking that this is some New Age mumbo jumbo, you actually are quite mistaken! As an independent state in the Commonwealth, the Arthritis Society of Canada has placed a guided meditation video on YouTube for sufferers of arthritis. The meditation is only a little longer than 11 minutes in duration, but the point being made here is that meditation can most definitely offer relief to many of the pains we suffer from daily, especially osteoarthritis. By taking yourself to a place beyond the physical realm where pain exists, you can find relief that often pharmaceuticals can’t address. Used in conjunction with physical therapy, sufferers often find a lower reliance on opiates and other prescription medications.
3. Increase the Intake of Anti-Inflammatories and Antioxidants
Most antioxidants (if not all) are also amazingly effective anti-inflammatories. They work by taking free radicals from the inflamed area so that they can be passed through and eliminated from the body. Whilst there are a number of OTC antioxidants on shelves of your local health food store or pharmacy, you can also increase your intake in foods high in beta carotene with a list of the top ten here. Bear in mind that these are fat-soluble vitamins, so adding a bit of olive oil to your diet will help with absorption.
This is not to say that pharmaceutical medications should be avoided. That is something to be left up to your provider. Only a doctor can say with authority what you should or should not be taking to ease pain but these suggestions can be the catalyst for relief as an adjunct to medications. In fact, a doctor’s referral for physical therapy is often the impetus for beginning treatment. Just know that there are ways to relieve chronic pain in addition to the medications you may already be taking.
