How To Reduce The Stress Caused By Chronic Pain
Being involved in an accident, whether it’s in a car or due to a slip and fall, can be devastating. Physical and emotional pain can cause a truly negative impact on your everyday life. The stress from lost wages, paying medical bills, and worrying about future costs and care can be overwhelming. Once you know what to look for in a personal injury lawyer you can find someone to trust with your case. Knowledge and experience should be at the top of your list of attorney requirements. After that, you need to focus on your own health and recovery. Dealing with chronic pain from an injury can be complicated and exhausting. Taking care of your physical health and mental health needs to be your top priority.
Physical Therapy
When you are in constant pain due to an injury, the last thing you may want to do is get up and move around. Your mobility may be restricted and although rest is great medicine, too much staying in one place can complicate things. When you remain still for too long, your tendons and ligaments become shortened and tight. When you start to lose your flexibility and range of motion it can cause your pain to become worse. Keeping up with your physical therapy is an important part of recovery. Stretching and muscle maintenance can help you get back on your feet faster than too much rest. Moderate exercise on a regular basis can also increase the natural level of endorphins (the feel good hormone) in your system. This can help you to feel more energized and improve your mood.
Massage
When you are in pain all the time, it can tend to make you tense in other areas of your body as a reflex. Your shoulders and neck will often start to hurt as you become tense while dealing with pain. Have your partner or a professional massage therapist work out the kinks in your muscles at least once a week.
Join a Yoga Class
Yoga provides several benefits to your health. First of all, it gives you an environment where you can relax uninterrupted for at least an hour or two. Secondly, a lot of yoga has to deal with breathing techniques to help you calm down after a tough day. Since the practice is physically intense in some sessions, it also increases your strength and flexibility which has a direct connection with pain-relief. To start off, simply join a beginner’s class and take it from there.
Meditation
Deep breathing and cleansing meditation can help your body to relax, which can ease the intensity of your pain. There are many different ways to meditate however; a repetitive mantra often works to help newcomers focus quickly and quiet their minds and breathing. If you are having trouble sleeping because of the discomfort from your chronic pain, you can try listening to soothing music, a guided sleep meditation or using aromatherapy to help your body prepare for rest. The lack of sleep that often plagues those dealing with pain can often cause your body unneeded stress.
Seek Professional Help
If things don’t seem to improve for you and you find yourself struggling on a daily basis, don’t ever hesitate to get professional help from a medical professional. He or she may give you important recommendations to control your stress as well as ways to deal with chronic pain. Some times if the situation is really bad, a doctor may even prescribe you anti-anxiety medication to allow your mind and body to recover.
Reduce Outside Stress
It’s tough enough on your body and mind to try to deal with chronic pain, so it’s important to try to eliminate all other outside sources of stress. Depression and anxiety are the largest contributors to stress. Talk to your doctor if you are battling tough emotional issues and get the proper treatment that can help you feel stronger and more capable of dealing with your recovery.
Find What Works Best For You
The way we find relaxations in things is different for all of us. Some of us find it relaxing to walk in the park, while others prefer indoor activities. The key is to find an activity or solution that works best for you. Start off with different ways to relieve stress, anxiety, and chronic pain and take notes of the activities that gave you the best results. Soon you’ll have plenty of ways to reduce stress and chronic pain.
Conclusion
When you are injured and dealing with constant chronic pain it can feel overwhelming. It’s not unusual for you to experience more stress during this time. Being proactive and dedicating yourself to your health and healing can help you cope.
