HURT no more

EIGHT REMEDIES TO TRY IF YOU’RE CRIPPLED WITH CHRONIC PAIN

For many of us, life with ongoing pain is a reality we have to put up with. If you have a condition that causes constant, ongoing pain, it’s important to have a good relationship with your specialist so you can try to find treatments and medications that are as effective as possible.

But there are also other things you can do to hopefully make life more bearable.

1 LEARN RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

Being in pain often leads you to tense your muscles, and that in turn causes more pain. Relaxing can help ease that pain. Ways of promoting relaxation include meditation, which involves concentrating on your breathing, ignoring thoughts coming into your head and focusing on a word, phrase or image.

Deep breathing can also help with relaxation as can guided visualisation, which involves imagining scenarios that help you to feel calm.

2 REDUCE STRESS

Again, this is something of a catch-22 – if you are in pain, it’s likely to be stressing you, and the more stressed you are, the worse your pain can be. This is because stress can increase the body’s sensitivity to pain and make it more severe.

The relaxation techniques listed above can help to get rid of some of the stress you may be experiencing. Therapy can also help you tackle issues that are causing stress and find strategies for dealing with them.

Massage is another way of de-stressing.

3 TRACK YOUR PAIN