Living with Chronic Pain

Living with chronic pain is almost impossible to describe unless you’ve lived through it. Chronic pain can affect your ability to work, to sleep, to be in relationship with others, and your ability to enjoy activities and hobbies that once gave you great pleasure. There are some steps you can take to make sure you have the best quality of life you can have while living with chronic pain.

1. Find your happy place.
All of us have a place, whether it’s in our home, our yard, or a local park or beachside that brings a sense of peacefulness and calm. Think about the special place and go there to rest, meditate, pray, think, journal or just be when you need to get away from your typical daily routine.

2. Look for distraction.
When you don’t feel well, sitting around and thinking about how badly you feel doesn’t usually help. Make a list of things you can do when you are hurting that would provide an effective distraction when your pain becomes difficult to live with. Maybe it’s a crossword puzzle, knitting, reading a book, calling a friend, doing something that engages your mind can be a great way to focus on something other than how you’re feeling.

3. Keeping Track
While it may seem counterproductive to focus on pain, there is some evidence that suggests that having a solid understanding of your pain can help you better manage it. Get a notebook and when you start feeling pain, write down if anything started the pain (ie getting out of bed in the morning), describe the pain (throbbing, stabbing), the location (which trigger points), the level of pain from 0-10 and what relieves it or exacerbates it. This information can be helpful when you visit your health care provider and continue to create a treatment plan that helps you live with chronic pain.

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