If you’re in a lot of pain, chances are you could find some day-to-day activities quite hard. Pain can wear you out, make you grumpy, and it can even have an impact on your mental health. The good news is there are some tried and tested methods that could help you. This article explores these methods in the hope that you get some pain relief.
1. Start Exercising Gently
Did you know that some gentle exercises can help by blocking some pain signals? The types of exercises that do this include gardening, swimming, dancing, and walking. In addition to this, a bit more activity can help your joints to feel less stiff.
If you’re feeling a bit hesitant about exercising, don’t worry. This is perfectly natural. You’re in pain, so the last thing you want to do is move more. However, if you gradually start exercising, you could find that you begin to get a little fitter. It’s even thought that the benefits of gentle exercise could outweigh the potential increase in pain.
2. Make Sure You’re Breathing Correctly
When you’re in pain, it can be hard to take some short and shallow breaths. Sometimes your breaths might even be quite rapid. This is not going to help you with your pain. This is because breathing this way can make you feel anxious, panicked, or dizzy.
Try to take some slow, deep breaths instead. When you’re breathing correctly, you are likely to feel in control, and this can help you to feel more relaxed. When you’re relaxed, you’re less likely to have any anxiety or muscle tension. Take a slow, deep breath right now, and think about how good it feels.
3. Think About Alternative Therapies
A lot of people use alternative and new therapies to help them with their pain. Yoga, for example, can teach you to breathe more easily. It can also help you to improve your flexibility and posture. These things in themselves can make a difference to your pain.
You might also want to consider PRP therapy as it can help to relieve pain. In addition to helping to relieve pain, this type of therapy can also help to speed up recovery.
Another alternative therapy is meditation. Sometimes just taking time out and working on your breathing can help a great deal. Meditation is also a great stress-reliever. When you’re less stressed you’re less likely to be tense. If you stay more relaxed, you might find yourself in less pain.
4. Consider Having Counseling
Counseling has a real potential to help you with your pain. This is the case even if you suffer from chronic pain. When you’re in pain, you can find yourself feeling depressed, anxious, tired, or even tearful. Unfortunately, when you feel this way, you can make your pain worse. When your pain is worse, it can make you feel depressed, anxious, tired, or even tearful.
Counseling can help you by encouraging you to deal with the emotions that you feel as a result of your pain. When you realize that it’s perfectly ok to feel down when you’re in pain, you could feel validated. Validation can have a big impact on your self-confidence and the pain itself.
If you choose to live with your pain rather than seek counseling, you could find life hard. However, accepting that you have limitations and choosing to ask for help can be a positive experience. Do yourself a favor and get the help you need.
5. Try to Distract Yourself
It is all too easy to get stuck in a cycle of thinking about how bad your pain is. This, in turn, can make you feel bad and result in lowering your mood. Why not try to distract yourself? When you think about or concentrate on other things, you get more enjoyment out of life.
Why not enjoy some of your hobbies? Chances are you can still undertake some of your hobbies even if you are limited by your pain. Hobbies such as gardening, photography, or reading can be helpful. You get the chance to do something you enjoy and you distract yourself from the pain.
Distracting yourself from your pain can be good for your mental health. It allows you to focus on something different and this can be very good for you. You could even find that your mood is lifted slightly.
It can be hard to deal with pain, especially if it limits what you can do. However, the above tips can make a real difference to how you’re feeling. If you find your pain is impossible to deal with, please speak to your doctor. They may review your medication, or they might offer you alternative ways to cope with your pain. With a bit of work, you too could have brighter, less painful days ahead.
Also read: How To Maintain Your Mental Health During a Pandemic
