As we go through life, we will undoubtedly bring about some wear and tear on our muscles and joints that cause persistent pain. This can impact our mobility, our mood, and quality of life. Acute pain, by definition, has a beginning and an end. We have an injury, we follow doctor's recommendation, and we return to normal. Chronic pain, however, stays with us for the long term and can turn one's life upside down if we let it. So I will give you six tips to manage the effects of this pain. This is the first in a three part series. Which covers to first two tips
- Have a plan. Chronic pain, by definition, will be with you, in some shape or fashion, for the rest of your life. So having attainable goals for yourself that you can achieve, for example, in six months to a year, will keep you motivated. These goals must be realistic and attainable. So instead of unreasonable goals such as “I want to be pain free;” a reasonable goal would be, i want to be able to walk two miles a day by six months from now, or I want to be able to play catch with my kids for 20 minutes. Having realistic and attainable goals will give you motivation when you hit the inevitable set backs associated with this process.
- Form a pacing schedule. Too much physical activity while cause you to re-injure yourself. However underactivity can cause muscles and joints to atrophy, which will bring about discomfort in chronic pain sites. So like Goldie-locks with her porridge, we have to find just the right amount of physical activity to minimize pain and increase physical activity and quality of life.