According to stats, nearly ½ of all Americans have regular pain issues.
((raises hand)) What about you?
This is awful.
Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists for longer than 3 months. Any ongoing pain that turns chronic affects you not only physically but mentally.
It’s one of the leading causes of suicide for both genders.
The body always tries to seek homeostasis (aka, balance ) which is usually achieved by some compensation somewhere else (or many places) in your body and mind.
The ongoing inflammatory processes wax & wane and eventually start affecting other bodily systems.
Here are some things you can try that researchers have identified as helpful, if not necessary, and address the physiological aspect -both physical and psychological:
- Breathing techniques
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Mindfulness & (expressing) gratitude
- Better (more) sleep
- Better nutrition
- Massage and bodywork*
- Herbs and herbal teas
- Music therapy
- Psychotherapy & behavior therapy
- Aqua therapy, swimming
- Nature & going outdoors
- Transcranial direct current stimulation, or magnetic stimulation
- (Appropriate) exercise
- Stem cell therapy (okay, this is more “physical”)
- CBD
^ Do some (or all) of these things prior to reaching out for opioids or pharmaceutical solutions.
Can you think of others to add to this list?
And if you do have to take an Rx, there’s no shame in that. In fact, let’s try to rid the SHAME associated with this condition, along with the helplessness
If you need medications, continue to do things that support your body and mind in a non-drug way too.
* For people who aren’t adverse to have someone touch them, these therapies can work very well as it will bring about a release of oxytocin in the body.
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Any questions?
