Chronic pain is a serious problem that millions of people have to deal with on a daily basis. It can be caused by numerous factors, such as an injury, illness, or chronic condition. The pain can be mild to severe and can greatly affect your quality of life. In this article, we will discuss ways to help you heal the root cause of the pain.
What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is pain that lasts for more than three months. It can be caused by an injury, illness, or chronic condition. The pain can be mild to severe and make it difficult to engage in everyday activities. If your pain doesn’t seem to go away no matter what you do, consider addressing your doctor.
All eastern medicine believes there’s some component of pain rooted in the blockages of energy and blood flow. When the blockages are left unchecked for a period of time, the body lets you know via pain signals from your brain letting you know exactly where these blockages are and where they have spread to. If we were to receive a check engine light in our car and smash that light with the hammer if we didn’t like the message, we can only imagine the build-up of concerns that would accumulate over time and ultimately cause our automobile to stop running. How’s our human body vehicle any different?
Some of the most common types of chronic pain include headache, post-surgical pain, chronic back pain, fibromyalgia, and arthritis. While acute pain usually becomes less severe as the injury heals, chronic pain is the signal your body continues to send even after an injury has healed. It may feel sharp or dull, coming and going without any rhyme or reason, and appear in any part of your body.
What Causes Chronic Pain?
There is not one single cause of chronic pain. Rather, it can be caused by a variety of factors such as injury, illness, or the long-term effects of an earlier injury. Emotional stress and anxiety may also contribute to chronic pain. Sometimes an underlying health condition such as chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, or inflammatory bowel disease can add layers to the healing process.
Additionally, without proper maintenance via food therapy, acupuncture, yoga, proper mineral and superfood vitamin supplementation, conditions associated with aging may reflect in bones, joints, and muscles. Back pain is one of the most common types of chronic pain associated with aging. It can be caused by a number of things, including years of poor posture, being overweight, or sleeping on a poor mattress.
How Does Chronic Pain Affect Your Mind and Body?
When chronic pain is unrelenting, it can take a toll on your mental and physical health. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) reports that chronic pain may cause changes in the brain that lead to depression and anxiety.
Chronic pain can also make you less active, because you may avoid physical activity due to uncomfortable aches and pains. This can lead to weight gain and conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
What Can You Do About It?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer for managing chronic pain. What works for someone else may not work for you. However, there are ways to manage it. Here are some tips:
- Physical therapy and guided fitness programs can also make you feel stronger and help you strengthen your muscles, increase your range of motion and improve your overall function. Physical therapists are trained specialists who can quickly estimate how many sessions you need to start feeling the improvement.
- Aquatic therapy is a great non-weight-bearing option if you have chronic pain because the water provides gentle resistance, which can help ease discomfort. Physical exercises like jogging and cycling can be too strenuous, that’s why water can be a great alternative. Its natural buoyancy helps to reduce weight and minimize stress on joints, which can increase strength without causing a lot of pain.
- Acupuncture is another treatment that has been proven to help chronic pain. Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine needles through your skin at strategic points on your body. The goal is to access energy channels and improve the flow of energy throughout your body.
- Massage therapy can also minimize pains in people with arthritis, chronic back pain, headaches, and other conditions. Therapeutic massage has been proven to significantly reduce cortisol (stress hormone) and elevate the levels of serotonin, a chemical within our bodies that is responsible for a good mood and a positive mindset.
- Yoga is known to be an effective way to manage chronic pain. The postures involved in yoga help stretch and strengthen muscles, improve joint flexibility, and promote better breathing. Yoga also helps focus the mind and reduce stress levels.
Generally speaking, it’s always helpful to visit your functional medicine MD, orthopedic doctor, chiropractic, especially when diagnostics are needed and spinal, bone, and joint health are called into concern.
Important Considerations
There are many ways to deal with chronic pain and it’s very important to find the right approach that’s unique to your personal needs. Always talk to your doctor before selecting an alternative approach to chronic pain management. Additionally, it’s important to be patient and consistent with any treatment plan you choose. Don’t give up if something doesn’t seem to be working right away – keep trying different things until you find what works best for you.
VELL HEALTH App coming to you 3-23-22, is the first-ever holistic health app empowering you with the freedom to holistically live a life you’ve always dreamed of!