Everything you believe about chronic pain is true. It drains you and has too many adverse effects on your daily life to count. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20% of Americans experience chronic pain. That suggests that millions of Americans experience the effects of chronic pain daily.
If you have chronic pain, you know that chiropractic care and sometimes medication can be helpful. Still, they frequently fall short of fully controlling all symptoms. Therefore, if you are experiencing chronic pain, knowing what you can do to manage it is crucial.
The Impacts of Chronic Pain
People who experience chronic pain frequently have limited options for daily activity. Some people may have disuse syndrome as a result, which is just another way of stating that if you do not use it, you will lose it. Understandably, people would stay away from actions that hurt them or make their existing pain worse. Because humans are hardwired to avoid pain, your brain will direct you to steer clear of anything that can make you feel more pain and discomfort. However, this can result in a decrease in strength and an increase in weakness, making things harder to do and more likely to hurt when you do them.
Additionally, the effects of chronic pain on your life are greatly influenced by your mental condition. It can make it harder to focus and cause feelings of depression, rage, and irritability. Consider what you can do to help yourself cope with the chronic pain you are experiencing because your mental state can be just as crippling as the pain is.
What You Can Do
Here are some tips to help you cope with your current situation.
Learn how to cope: When you consider the worst-case scenario, the big picture of chronic pain can seem bleak. However, many people manage to have fulfilling lives despite chronic pain because they have developed the coping mechanisms needed to carry on. To get better, you may need to adopt new behaviors, alter your way of life, and use other therapies like massage and chiropractic.
Try exercising: To feel better and be more mobile, discuss with your chiropractor how you can move in a way that will not exacerbate your condition but can increase your fitness level. Plus, finding what you can do to exercise while experiencing chronic pain will reduce some of its effects.
Explore other treatments: In addition to seeing your chiropractor, consider therapies like massage, acupuncture, cupping, mindfulness, or magnetic therapy. Ask your chiropractor what other treatments they suggest to you to help you cope.
Relax: As your stress level increases so does the tension in your body. It would help if you learned to relax because that tension can cause further discomfort. Many apps will walk you through meditation, which can be a valuable tool for relaxation. Try a few and see how you like them.
What We Do
The main goal of Atlas Injury to Health is to give each patient personalized, functional care. Dr. Michael St. Louis’ is a chiropractor in Winter Garden, FL, specializing in atlas orthogonal chiropractic and upper cervical chiropractic to improve spine function. Contact us to schedule a consultation if you think chiropractic care would benefit you. Call 407-656-0390 or send an email to info@atlasinjurytohealth.com for more information.