Common Pain Triggers
Common Pain Triggers To Avoid
If you are someone who is dealing with chronic pain, you will want to stay as pain-free as possible and will want to avoid those things that trigger the pain to be worse. While you will want to maintain a quality of life that is as positive as possible, you should take note of those things that trigger the pain to be worse.
Here are some common pain triggers you will want to avoid if you want to maintain a good quality of life:
- Exposure to cold. If you are dealing with issues of chronic pain, you will want to avoid too much exposure to the cold. This could mean sleeping with a heat pad or heating blanket. It also means bundling up when you go outside, paying special attention to covering your hands if you have arthritic hands, wearing warm footwear, especially in the winter, and wearing a hat to keep your body temperature up. When you are warm, your perception of pain will be less.
- Overdoing it. While you probably always have things that need to be done, it is important to avoid doing too much at one time. This means pacing yourself when it comes to housework or outdoor chores and allowing yourself to rest whenever the pain takes over and you feel you have done enough. Let your body and your pain is the guides as to how much work you can get done in any given period time.
- Excess stress. People who are under too much stress will feel more pain than those who are under less stress. If you find yourself in a stressful situation, practice meditation, or just back away from the situation. When you do this, you will find that your stress level will go down as will your perception of pain. If you live a stressful lifestyle, it is time to take stock of those things in your life that are stressing you out and that you can do without. Your body will thank you for the effort.
- Lacking in sleep. If you do not get enough sleep, you will have an increased perception of pain. Your body needs restorative sleep every night in order to relax your muscles. If you don’t get enough sleep, you will awake with stiff and sore muscles and you will experience more pain. Try to get at least seven to nine hours of sleep each night for the best in pain relief.
- Excess exercise. While it is known that exercise can help people with chronic pain, it must be done carefully and you must not overdo it. Exercise such as you would find in the practices of yoga, tai chi, and qi gong, are perfectly acceptable for those with chronic pain. Trying to run a marathon or run on a treadmill every day may actually backfire on you and you will experience muscle soreness and increased pain that you could do without.
- Relationship difficulties. If you are living with someone who does not understand the pain, you are going through or if you are suffering from relationship troubles, you will increase your level of stress and will feel more pain than you would if you were alone or in a more comfortable relationship.
Things You Can Do To Avoid Pain
You need to take care of your body very seriously if you are suffering from chronic pain. This means avoiding the pain triggers as discussed above and doing things that will improve your perception of pain. Follow your doctor’s orders when it comes to taking the pills you need to take for pain and any exercise prescription your doctor gives you. Exercise does not have to be eliminated when you are living with chronic pain but it must be done carefully. There are gentle stretching exercises you can even do in bed and forms of exercise that are not hard on your joints yet will leave you feeling like you have done something good for your body.
