Chronic pain is one of the leading causes of disability in the United States, as well as one of the most cited reasons why employees call off from work. This is why it's so important to find pain management techniques that work for you.
In essence, chronic pain can prevent you from working, attending school and participating in psychically demanding activities. Sometimes, chronic pain is difficult to manage and treat, especially if an underlying medical condition causes your pain.
Also, one of the obstacles in obtaining relief from pain is that most pain killers are opiate-based narcotics. While they are effective in treating acute pain, long term use can lead to addiction. Long term use can also worsen your overall health, damage your liver and aggravate other medical problems.
Likewise, pain management techniques offer a valuable alternative to pain medication and can help reduce your symptoms. Pain management techniques can be evidence-based or holistic.
Chronic pain conditions are incurable, making it hard to find effective ways to alleviate your symptoms. Some medications can help relieve symptoms, but long-term use of certain medications can damage your physical health. Also, the longer medications are used, the less effective they become, making pain management an important component of chronic pain treatment.
Some examples of pain management techniques include:
Other strategies that can help in pain management include keeping a journal of your symptoms and adding notes about what things have helped and worsened your pain. Therapy can also help with your symptoms because chronic pain can cause mood changes like depression and anger. These mood changes can result from your pain preventing you from engaging in activities and hobbies you enjoy.
Holistic pain management techniques can complement other treatments like therapy. Holistic treatments strive to improve your physical, emotional and spiritual health. Doctors believe that properly balancing and treating all aspects of your body, mind, and spirit improves recovery outcomes.
Additionally, holistic treatments are typically noninvasive and carry few side effects. Several examples of holistic pain management techniques include:
Stress management is another method of holistic therapy that can help you manage your chronic pain. Stress can increase pain and hurt your mental health. Activities like yoga and Pilates can improve your posture and balance, which can alleviate pain. Meditation and mindfulness exercises improve alertness, decreases stress and promotes cognitive function, helping you center and manage your pain.
Other holistic treatments like acupuncture have proven to relieve pain symptoms in many patients and are safe alternatives to surgery and medication.
Suffering from chronic pain can make you feel trapped, frustrated and hopeless. While your pain may be incurable, you can learn pain management techniques and live a normal life. San Antonio Recovery Center, the best holistic therapy San Antonio TX offers, is here to help. Call us today at 866.957.7885 to find out how our programs can help you or a loved one.
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