How can I manage chronic pain?
- Matthew Rogers
- Feb 1, 2018
- 2 min read
Pain, whilst unpleasant, can be a very useful sensation to have. Short term – or ‘acute’- pain helps us learn from our experience to protect us from future injury. It is part of the natural healing process. For example, if you burn yourself on a hot stove, you might learn to be more wary in future and the discomfort of any blisters would remind you to keep the area clean and protected from infection.
The common approaches to acute pain, such as avoiding the cause, applying ice or heat packs and engaging in light activity may help ease the worst of the symptoms. After the harm has healed, the pain usually goes away and we can get on with our lives.
In some circumstances, however, pain may persist even after the healing has finished. This is referred to as ‘chronic’ or ‘persistent’ pain. This type of pain has no clear beneficial purpose and may not respond well to conventional treatments for acute pain such as anti-inflammatory or analgesic painkillers.
Sometimes, once you have had persistent pain for a long time, the nervous system can become more sensitive to pain, so that previously non-threatening events, such as a change in the weather or light pressure of the duvet on your skin at night can be perceived as painful. This effect, known as ‘central sensitisation’ may also means that your symptoms may vary from day to day for no obvious reason.
Examinations such as blood tests and x-rays may not identify the reasons for the pain, making it harder for your doctor to make a diagnosis. As such, persistent pain can be difficult to diagnose. As a result, some people can feel that others don’t believe they are in pain or don’t understand what they are going through which can make their experience even more distressing.
Persistent pain might seem tricky to manage but there are a number of things you can do to help yourself, depending on the type of pain and the other symptoms you are living with.
Distraction techniques such as breathing exercises, relaxation and guided imagery can help you to manage the pain. Many people find that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness can be helpful in reducing the emotional impact of the condition. Research suggests that graded exercises and certain physical therapies such as osteopathy may stimulate the body to produce strong natural painkillers (endorphins) that may be of benefit. Finally, pacing your activities can also help to reduce the likelihood of a flare-up of symptoms.
Where over the counter medications are ineffective in persistent pain conditions, GP referral to a specialist pain management team may be appropriate. There you can expect your current medication to be reviewed and the team of clinicians will try to identify something that is more likely to work for you.
Further reading:
For more information on the management of persistent pain, visit: file:///C:/Users/mjrog/Downloads/Pain-report.pdf