Building a pain-free life

The most important discovery I've made so far in my struggle with chronic pain, is that I have lots of options for pain relief. If I see my goal of having a life unrestricted by pain as a building project rather than as a race, I am free to choose different building blocks and combine them in various ways in order to find a combination that I am happy with.

Personally I don't believe in miracle cures any more. My first few years as a chronic pain patient I was desparate to find a cure and willing to try just about anything. Always hoping that this treatment, this operation or this medicine is finally going to make it all go away... and being disappointed time and time again. But as the years go by, I've tried hundreds of techniques and treatments and have gone through both good and bad periods. Now I have finally come to accept that sometimes it hurts more, sometimes less, sometimes I understand it but quite often I don't.

It's not a magic miracle cure I need, it's a lifestyle that lets me enjoy life whether I have pain or not.

Taking care of my health by doing the right things in my daily life is my preferred cure for chronic pain today. Eating habits, sleeping habits, exercise... essentially everything I do and how I do it. Each choice and each action is one small but vital piece in the structure I am building. They all count towards my pain prevention and when put together they can result in long periods where I am well-functioning and pain-free. Completely without drugs or tiring and expensive treatment.

This building project is both empowering and enlightening. For every building block I find that helps me improve my health and well being and reduce my pain I regain some of the power and some of the freedom that my chronic illness has taken away.

The source of the pain may still be there, but it doesn't affect me as much anymore.

#144 Filter your answers

If you follow the advice in yesterday's post, you are likely to come up with a list of stuff you can do that may help you to get better. Next step is to filter your answers. Most of the answers are things you already know, but maybe wouldn't have thought were important if you didn't ask the question. Some things may feel small and insignificant, while others are huge and impossible to do at the present moment.

Don't worry, change is a process, and we don't have to do everything all at once.

If you have developed severe health problems, or suffer chronic pain from sustained injury, chances are there is anything from 100 to 1000 things you can do that may improve your quality of life and help you on your way to healing. You don't need this blog or anybody else to tell you what they are, they'll come to you if you just start listening.

But what you can do is to start filtering your answers. What can you do right away that may make you feel better? Can you reorganize your schedule to make room for some rest when you need it? Can you go on an outing, or see a loved one that cheers you up? Can you help someone else, or brighten someones day? Can you call that acupuncturist or massage therapist that really helped your bad shoulder and schedule a new appointment?

Choose a couple things from your list and see which ones are possible to start doing right away.

#118 Don't talk about it!

Some things are better left unsaid. If you have a chronic health condition, and your situation is stable but still agonizing, after a while talking about it just doesn't do you much good.

There's actually scientific research that shows that talking about pain triggers the pain centers in the brain, therefore actually increasing it...

Of course being silent is not a good option either. You will want some people in your network that you can talk to about everything, you may want to be on a pain forum or have a support group where you can vent, but with the people in your daily life and more distanced acquaintances you might just want to take the whole "pain & problems" issue off the table and focus on other and more uplifting things.

Can you just by being there, listening, and giving a new perspective, help your friends or loved ones improve their situations or feeling better about something they are dealing with? If so you are lifting not only them, but also yourself.

#70 Put yourself first

I always used to hate to when my father told me that I needed to learn how to "prioritize". He told me that I couldn't do everything, and that sometimes choosing to do one thing would mean choosing to NOT do something else. I don't always agree with this, but in some cases it's true. I can't be two places at the same time (until I fix that cloning machine...) and I can't do anything for anyone else if I don't first take care of myself.

Many chronic pain patients are extremely generous, loving and caring people, who give freely of themselves and their time. Sometimes giving is easier than receiving, and we want to do so much, and be so much that we end up with no strength left for taking care of ourselves. We put our own needs last.

But... whichever way you look at it: You are the most important person in you life. 

Starting to put yourself first is not about being selfish, it's about respecting yourself and also others.  It's about recognizing your own needs and learning to fulfill them. Nobody else can do it for you. If you have health problems, you and your health should be your first priority, because if you don't take care of that, you won't be able to have any of the other stuff.

You are amazing. You are wonderful. You are valuable.

Show that by putting yourself and your body's needs first!

#54 TENS your body

You know what they say: "It's never too late to learn how to electrocute yourself!" or... wait a minute, maybe that's not what they say... or, who are "they" anyway, and what are they doing in my blog?

Well.

This is a TENS machine, and TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, which might explain why I'm quite happy using the abbreviation.

A TENS unit is a small batterypowered thingy that lets you electrocute yourself, or give yourself mild electric shocks through sticky electrodes placed on the skin. Now why would anyone want to do do this, you might ask? Well my friend, turns out that zapping yourself with high frequency electricity at low voltage blocks the pain signals to the brain and stimulates the production of endorphins.

Simply speaking: Zapping yourself with a TENS unit 20 minutes a day can relieve your pain.

It doesn't work for everybody all the time, and some people prefer opioids and other narcotics, but if you're looking for safe, non-addictive pain relief, TENS is definitely worth a try. Most health insurances will cover the purchase of the unit.

There are different places you can zap for different effects, and most units have different programs, that combine high and low frequencies for best effect. Safety rules: Never use TENS around your heart or neck, never use it if you have a pacemaker and always always always consult your doctor before trying TENS or any other new treatment.

#39 Acupressurize yourself

Exactly how acupressure works is still a mystery to me. Maybe I'd have to grasp the deeper workings of chinese medicine to understand it...ehem, and that's not likely to happen any time soon...

But it works. It's as easy as this picture, grasping the flesh between thumb and index finger/hand, push and hold for as long as you can muster. This point is one of the classic pain-relief acupressure points. Yes it hurts, maybe because it releases endorphins, maybe because it does something "magic" to your energy, whatever it is, it works.

There are lots of other good acupressure points you can use too, find the points in your face/temples/neck that are sore, push gently, hold and release. It's that simple:)

(If this has good effect on you, you may want to check out this book on trigger point self therapy for pain management)

#16 Listen to self help audio books

Yayy, it's Saturday, maybe my favourite day of the week. The sore ski-muscles are softening up and my body is slowly returning to normal. Pain level? Mhhhm... 2. That's pretty amazing for a cold winter day!

Today's pain-free tip is to listen to self help audio books; an excellent activity for those periods when you're so worn out that you can't bring yourself to exercise or go out and meet people.

The pain relief foundation has a bunch of good titles here, and this one by Dr. Arnd Stein is a complete program that uses well tested techniques like deep relaxation and autogenic training.

Welcome!

This blog is a feel good zone for anyone who has to deal with physical pain on a daily basis.

The blog will be opened on the first of January, and every day through 2010 I will post a new entry with ideas of things you can do to relieve or minimize your pain to have the best day possible.

Wishing you all a pain free day!

- Anna