Chronic pain mistakes
- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- Apr 24, 2019
- 2 min read
Is chronic pain making you feel defeated? Is it causing you physical and emotional pain?
Most people with chronic pain made mistakes
Below are 10 common mistakes people with chronic pain make.
1. AVOIDING ALL EXERCISE:
Exercise eases pain in different ways. For one, strengthening muscles helps reduce pressure on the bones and joints. Exercise also promotes the release of feel good hormones, which boost mood and ease pain. Weight bearing exercises put extra pressure on your joints so avoid them.
2. IGNORING NATURAL REMEDIES
Medications won’t get rid of all of your pain. Using natural remedies, like massage, acupuncture and hypnosis, can help you cope better with chronic pain. Research shows that natural remedies, such as acupuncture are very effective.
3. NOT MANAGING STRESS
Stress can affect chronic pain and this is due to chronically high cortisol levels that trigger inflammation, which adds pain.
You need to manage your stress through activities like deep breathing, walking, meditation and yoga part of your daily routine.
4. USING MEDICATIONS TO BLOCK ALL OF THE PAIN
The idea that chronic pain medications should eliminate all pain is a fallacy. Such thinking leads to dangerous decisions, such as overmedication.
Medications can ease pain up to 50% so that is why you need to combine both remedies and medications.
5. LIVING AS IF YOU DON‘T HAVE CHRONIC PAIN
You may have to give up some of your favorite activities, especially those that put undue stress on your body.
6. SMOKING AND DRINKING
The chemicals you inhale from cigarettes overwork your lungs, preventing them from delivering enough oxygen to the blood.
It’s also important to limit your alcohol intake. Alcohol may numb your pain for a while, but it’ll end up doing more harm than good.
7. MAINTAINING A POOR DIET
You need to focus on optimal nutrition and choose anti-inflammatory diet.
8. OPTING FOR SURGERY TOO SOON
You may think that surgery is a permanent solution to chronic pain, but you need to give it a lot of thought. Consult different doctors and explore different treatment options.
Research shows that lower back surgery may not be helpful if there’s no evidence of nerve pressure. Treat your pain with medications and natural remedies before opting for surgery.
Sources:
Comments