Health

Coping With Chronic Pain

Pain that lasts several months or longer can come to have a dominant role in your day-to-day life. Individuals who suffer from chronic pain sometimes resign themselves to being in discomfort indefinitely, and it can feel very disheartening and isolating. Actively pursuing relief from chronic pain can make a significant difference in the quality of your life. When you’re able to alleviate pain, you’re able to do more and you are less likely to feel like certain possibilities are closed off. Ultimately, finding strategies to cope with chronic pain can benefit you both physically and mentally. Here are a couple of things that you can do to improve your pain levels.  

See a Physician Who Specializes in Pain Management

While your primary care physician and other specialists are committed to helping you manage chronic pain, it may be advantageous to see a physician who specializes in helping patients address chronic pain. Instead of focusing on the condition itself, a pain management physician’s primary objective is to address how the condition is making you feel. If you’re looking for a pain clinic Orange Park FL, look for a clinic that’s staffed by experienced physicians who can offer a wide variety of treatment options. A comprehensive treatment regimen could include prescription medication, injection therapy, or assistive devices.

Be Consistent About Attending Physical Therapy

Being active when you’re in pain can feel understandably onerous. Nonetheless, physical activity can be extremely helpful in recuperating from an acute injury or learning to compensate for the mobility limitations caused by chronic pain from certain health conditions. Working with a physical therapist is one of the best ways to go about staying physically active in a way that won’t aggravate the source of your pain.

Physical therapy may help you develop muscle tone and maintain mobility in way that can offset the effects of chronic pain. It’s very important, however, that you be consistent about attending physical therapy sessions. Don’t get discouraged simply because you may have experienced some discomfort within your first few appointments with a physical therapist or because you’re not seeing the results that you wanted as quickly as you had hoped. No patients’ physical therapy journeys are exactly the same, so it’s reasonable to expect that you may struggle when you first start therapy or that there may be some trial and error involved in identifying what types of therapy and exercises work best for you individually.

Elaine Allen
the authorElaine Allen