January 12, W Sussex
869 words of encouragement
Ageing, aches and pains are inevitable because you are alive. They are a feature of living and become more common as you age.
There are different approaches and ways to manage these aches and pains if they are present.
I encourage the active and positive way when you focus on what you can control and do in your day to day life.
Sometimes the pain will be a feature of a particular medical condition and maybe helped with the appropriate treatment.
Many people use medication for pain. The upsides are the varying degrees of relief. The downsides are more and include: any relief is short term until the next dose, many side effects, reliance and tolerance, possibility of addiction, no sustained transformation of your pain.
Fortunately medication is not the only way. There are many others.
Some people choose treatments. There are many therapies claiming they can help ease pain.
There is no particular therapy for pain. Instead it is finding what works for you.
Any therapy that involves someone doing something to you is also short-term. Why?
Because sustained improvements and easing of pain is an active process. Only you, the person who feels the pain, can actually change your pain.
Pain does change, because everything changes. Nothing is permanent.
So, medication and therapies can be helpful in the short-term, but it is your understanding and how you live that makes the biggest difference.
A simple time equation.
How many hours are you awake each day? Each week?
These are your waking hours and the time to live. How do you spend that time?
Medication takes a moment. Therapy makes a small proportion, as do any exercises you practice.
What about the rest of the time? The bulk of your time?
How are you living to create the conditions to be as well as you can?
I call this self-care. It is at the heart of your wellness, which means a foundation for the quality of your life.
The positive approach is one where you focus on your picture of success and then take steps in that direction each day.
Your habits, which water the seeds of wellness.
The most effective way to deal skilfully with aches and pains is to focus on living the best way you can. In short, the more the focus is on the pain and painful part of the body, trying to ‘treat it’, the worse the outcomes. The more you are engaged with activities in your daily life, connecting with what matters in the best way you can, managing any challenging (painful) moments and self-caring with compassion, the better the outcomes.
In other words, to transform pain, you don’t focus on it. You focus on what you want and how you are getting there. At whatever age.
Changing and transforming pain is more similar to learning a musical instrument than it is fixing a car. You don’t need fixing, you need growth and engagement in ways that are unique to you.
Pain is a message that you have needs to be met. Do you know your needs and then how to meet them?
This is a big part of the work I do with people to help them move forward in their direction of choice.
Here are some examples:
- Movement: this includes any exercises you are doing, walking, housework, changing your position so you are not sat for long periods. How much movement do you do each day?
- Participation in a range of activities: meaning, purpose, play, enjoyment, connection with others, fun and laughter are all important for health and wellbeing. What are you involved with each day?
- Breathing practice: the way you breathe matters. It is a way of changing state very quickly, bringing calm and clarity. It is also fundamental for how your body systems are working because it determines the oxygen level. You are breathing, but is it effective and working for you?
- Sleep: sleep is commonly disrupted. Creating your strategy and habit is very important for health. Being consistent with your habit creates the conditions for rest and sleep, re-charging you for the next day. How is your sleep?
- Connection with other people: humans are sociable. You will have your own way of connecting with others: family and friends. We are designed to connect and touch. How much connection and touch do you experience?
- Energy: managing your energy is an active skill. Looking after yourself in the ways described above will manage and build your energy. Without energy life is harder. Your way of living, your thinking, beliefs and actions, all play a role in how much energy you feel you have. At times you will need to lift your energy. How do you lift your energy?
There are many skills you can learn and practice to live well and transform your pain.
Pain is generated by your body systems and not by the body part where you feel it. Your body systems are working as well as you look after yourself in all the ways you can.
Easing and transforming your pain is an active endeavour.
I hope that helps.
r.s.
Pain Coaching for persistent and chronic pain ~ read here