Contribution from Jodie Henslee<\/p>\n
1. Relax<\/strong>, which eases pain. Although there are many ways to meditate, the soothing power of repetition is at the heart of some forms of meditation. Focusing on the breath, ignoring thoughts, and repeating a word or phrase — a mantra — causes the body to relax.<\/p>\n While you can learn meditation on your own, it helps to take a class or look online for a specific type of meditation. I meditate regularly at night in order to help me quiet my thoughts and fall asleep. I have an application on my IPod and put in my earphones.\u00a0 Works great for me.<\/p>\n 2. Reduce stress<\/strong> in your life. Stress intensifies chronic pain. Depression, anxiety, stress, and even anger can increase the body’s sensitivity to pain. By learning to take control of stress and negative feelings, you may find some relief from pain.<\/p>\n There are many techniques to wind down. Listening to soothing, music, mental imagery relaxation (also called guided imagery) are forms of mental escape that can help you feel peaceful. It works by creating calming, peaceful images in your mind<\/p>\n 3. Find ways to distract yourself from pain<\/strong> so you enjoy life more. When you focus on pain, it makes it worse rather than better. Instead, find something you like doing — an activity that keeps you busy and thinking about things besides your pain. You might not be able to avoid pain, but you can take control of your life, and taking control of your life is what we want. We do not want to be “the pain”; we want to have our pain be just a “part” of “US”!<\/p>\n 4. Track your pain<\/strong> level and activities every day. Also, note what activities you did that day. Take this log book to every doctor visit — to give your doctor a good understanding of how you’re living with chronic pain and your physical functioning level.<\/p>\n I hope these tips help you reduce your pain…..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Contribution from Jodie Henslee 1. Relax, which eases pain. Although there are many ways to meditate, the soothing power of repetition is at the heart of some forms of meditation. Focusing on the breath, ignoring thoughts, and repeating a word … Continue reading
\nKeeping a log or journal of your daily “pain score” will help track pain. At the end of each day, note your pain level on the 1 to 10 pain scale. I have sent out journal pages before, so if you need one, let me know and I can email them to you.<\/p>\n