Chronic pain is an invisible enemy that makes the ailing prisoner. He locks him in his cell to keep him away from the reality around him. He is sometimes deprived of his usual routine, the one that redefines him as a person.
This, in turn, affects the sick in the areas related to work, family, and friends, who are relegated to the background in the face of the incapacity for proper functioning.
Pain immobilizes, no doubt, and more so when it persists in time. Hence, the importance of a new approach where drugs are not the only and indispensable resource.
It is important to know that chronic pain is a complex ailment where several physical, psychological, and neurological factors intermingle. This is stated in this report by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
This situation is a challenge, it is true, but there are enough weapons to deal with it and achieve a better quality of life. See then how it can be addressed.
Do You Suffer From Chronic Pain?
The first and indispensable step is to identify what this pain is. Medical diagnoses are the ones that are going to give an idea of what is happening, but it is necessary to distinguish the difference between pain and chronic pain.
An accident, the breakage of a bone, or a postoperative period are common situations in which it is suffered. When that suffering lasts beyond six months, life begins to have another conception and the person begins to resort to drugs, energy is lost, motivation is lost…
A door seems to be opened to the darkness you get stuck in. And it is even more complicated in the case, for example, of people affected by fibromyalgia, where the diagnosis takes a long time to arrive.
Months, and even years, can pass without a clear result of the cause of the widespread discomfort that makes it difficult for them to lead a life normally.
Knowing what’s happening in the body is the first step to getting through this process. Then you’ll find a series of guidelines to cope with chronic pain less painfully.
Psychological Guidelines to Deal With Chronic Pain
A Technique.
Usually, pain is often thought to be momentary or temporary. An atypical situation that will be relieved with a calming or rest.
However, when a diagnosis is finally obtained and it is discovered that the pain will last over time, the psychological impact that is suffered can be brutal.
Here, you are allowed to experience anxiety, anger, and fear at that feeling of suffering. This is a process in which a whole series of feelings and emotions will emerge that you must satisfy and identify and then face.
For all this, it is necessary to know the simple technique of the three A.
- Accept but don’t avoid. Assume that you suffer pain, but this is not synonymous with stillness or avoiding what is part of life and defines you as a person. Find your support, and face every moment with the maximum energy that you can.
- He agrees to continue experimenting. Day-to-day forces us to move forward, to offer sensations and emotions to which the face should not be turned.
- Accepting is synonymous with commitment. He understands that you suffer from a certain disease, and that the pain will be present on certain occasions. However, you must commit to addressing it. You have to adapt your goals to your capabilities to get the maximum possible benefits.
The Weapons of Thought
Thought is our greatest weapon when it comes to fighting pain; he will be our ally or enemy.
Emotions directly affect the feeling of pain. Those days when one is more stressed or sadly, chronic pain is profiled in the body with the highest incidence. How about then if you learn to master your thoughts, to give them a turn to positivity as far as possible?
If thinking negatively is going to hurt, it will be best to recognize the moments when those thoughts begin to emerge. In the mornings, for example, when you get out of bed and feel that the body doesn’t answer you, forbidden to think I can’t, or I won’t be able to with this.
I’ll try or better, I’m gonna get it. I’m gonna get it.
The Clock Can Wait
We have to understand that other rhythms are necessary. Life is not a career, but a walk in which to learn to be happy. It is clear that there are obligations and the pain will sometimes not allow us to reach all those objectives that mark the mind.
The body now requires a little more time to perform normal activities and not fall into the two most common mistakes:
- Eliminate those activities that are pleasant, such as staying for coffee, taking the children to the park, or going out with friends. Your time is irreplaceable.
- Take advantage of those days when you feel best to perform all outstanding obligations. What’s that gonna assume? An unnecessary overeffort that will further aggravate chronic pain the next day.
It’s very important, so control your self-required. But it is also essential to mark pauses to enjoy life and loved ones. Also, tasks should be delegated and not borne on the back of every responsibility.
The Treasure of Values
Although the idea terrifies you, sometimes chronic pain can limit certain aspects of life that are used to determine your personality.
You may need to stop working or stop doing certain activities that were previously important to you. It’s possible. But this in turn opens a new stage in which to rethink many aspects of life, such as values themselves.
What’s important to me? What do I value the most? Am I acting consistent with my principles?
It is therefore essential to ask all these questions. It assesses whether it is time to act according to them, by what is truly important.
A Favor for Your Body: Relaxation
One of the best techniques is the so-called “Jacobson,” according to this report by a team from the University of Almeria.
It relies on tense and destaining the different muscle groups of the body by eliminating stiffness, to leave it suspended in a state of calm and relaxation. Just look for a quiet corner of the house and start practicing it every day.
If you’re consistent with this procedure, you’ll notice the benefits in a short time.
Keep a Balanced Diet
Exclusive drug use is not going to help you solve the pain problem. Hence also the importance of compensating for the balance by supporting you in correct eating habits.
While they won’t eliminate pain, they’ll do your body very well.
Foods that you should NOT take
- Very sugary, refined, or fried products.
- Animal proteins, such as sausages. Foods rich in oxalate or uric acid, such as red meats, are also not recommended.
- Alcohol.
Recommended foods against chronic pain
- Fresh plants: especially carrot, garlic, onion, celery, savity…
- Foods that are rich in potassium, zinc, selenium, and silicon, are highly recommended for example to treat fibromyalgia.
- Vegetable fats: like olive oil, sesame, or sunflower oil.
- Whole grains: such as amaranth, mystery, or corn. They are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals.
- Magnesium: intervenes in the process of muscle contraction.
- Antioxidants: Vitamin C, A, and E, included in the carrot, orange, avocado, lemon…
- Plant oils and milks. Soy milk or almonds, for example, are an indispensable source of calcium that we should not fail to include in our diet.
Don’t Ever Stop Fighting Chronic Pain
Raising in pain day after day is, unfortunately, an experience that limits life and produces a lot of frustration.
Fibromyalgia, arthritis, low back pain, or lupus are complex diseases that affect the optimal development of life. However, you shouldn’t see them as stationary or paralyzing situations.
Chronic pain is not a label to put on oneself when looking in the mirror. It is a challenge to face, moment by moment; with which to learn to know better.
You must know that having a good quality of life will depend, directly, on your mood. You will achieve it with the help of yours, with positive thoughts, and, of course, with the strength that characterizes you.