Maintaining Good Health Even When You're Busy

Seven Things Not To Do If You're Experiencing Chronic Pain

by Caitlin Obara

It's important to respond properly to chronic pain in order to achieve the best possible quality of life. The following are seven things not to do if you're experiencing chronic pain. 

Ignoring chronic pain and thinking it will go away on its own

There are many treatments available for chronic pain. You don't have to suffer from chronic pain. The sooner you seek out treatment, the sooner you can begin finding solutions to relieve chronic pain. 

Getting treatment for chronic pain can improve your quality of life and make it easier to excel in your professional life. There is no guarantee that chronic pain will clear up on its own, so seeking treatment is essential. 

Allowing chronic pain to keep you sedentary

Chronic pain sometimes flares up when patients attempt to exercise or participate in athletic activities. This makes it so that chronic pain prevents some patients from being active and makes them more sedentary.

Being sedentary can lead to some weight gain and poorer overall health. Neglecting to exercise can actually make chronic pain worse over the long term if it causes significant weight gain and muscle weakness. 

Having poor posture

Many types of chronic pain, such as back pain, can become worse if your posture is poor. That's why you need to concentrate on maintaining good posture and keeping your body properly aligned if you are experiencing chronic pain. 

Attempting to manage chronic pain on your own without the assistance of medical professionals

You might think that taking over-the-counter pain medications and trying some pain management strategies on your own is all you can do to treat chronic pain. However, you'll get the best results in treating chronic pain if you seek out treatment from a medical professional.

Discussing your chronic pain with your doctor is important for achieving the best possible results when you want to minimize pain. 

Getting an inadequate amount of sleep

If you're experiencing chronic pain, then it's more important than ever to get enough sleep. Sleep is important for healing from injuries that may be causing your pain. Getting enough sleep can also energize your body and thereby minimize the severity of pain in some cases. 

Being overly reliant on pain medications

While pain medications can be very effective at treating pain, it's important to not become overly reliant on them. The effects of pain medications can wear off over time, and you don't want to increase your dosage.

Work on addressing the cause of pain and correcting it rather than only covering pain up with pain medications. 

Failing to take advantage of the expertise of a pain management specialist

Simply seeing your regular doctor for pain management might not be enough if you're dealing with severe chronic pain. You might want to go to a specialized pain medical clinic for chronic pain problems that are difficult to treat. 

For more tips, contact an IPM medical clinic near you.

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