Pain management: Living with chronic pain

Chronic pain management can have physical and emotional benefits. Chronic pain's emotional effects include depression, anger, anxiety and fear of re-injury which may hinder your ability to return to work or to take part in once enjoyable activities.

Additionally, the emotional toll of chronic pain can make pain worse. Anxiety, stress, depression, anger and fatigue interact in complex ways with chronic pain and may decrease the body's production of natural painkillers; moreover, such negative feelings may increase the level of substances that amplify sensations of pain, causing a vicious cycle of pain.

If you or someone you love suffers from chronic pain it is important to get help. There are many effective treatments available to relieve pain so that you or your loved one can start living again.

Managing chronic pain

The ideal treatment for chronic pain is a comprehensive approach that addresses a person's physical, emotional, and cognitive needs. Successful treatment requires choosing a life-long plan of wellbeing that may include:

• Medical services
• Physical therapy
• Psychological counselling
• Occupational therapy.

If you suffer from chronic pain, the first thing to do is to see a doctor and get treated. Other steps that can make living with chronic pain more tolerable include the following:

• Learn how to relax through deep breathing and other stress-management techniques.
• Set achievable goals and don't overdo it on good days; learn to pace yourself.
• Engage in positive self-talk (statements that reaffirm positive qualities).
• Build rest, exercise and relaxation times into your daily schedule.
• Join a chronic pain support group.
• Know your medications, including expected benefits and side effects. When the ‘cost’ exceeds the benefit, ask your doctor if something else might work better.
• Decrease or eliminate alcohol consumption. Pain often disrupts sleep and alcohol can further disrupt the sleep cycle.
• Give up smoking. Cigarettes can impair healing and have been identified as a risk factor in the development of many diseases including degenerative disc disease, a leading cause of lower back pain.