Pain management

If you browse thru any magazine or even Facebook ads these days you will inevitably find an article about the over prescription of opioid medications for pain management. I have worked with people who have used them for years and still complain of unmanageable pain.

I frequently get questions regarding tension headaches. Chronic headaches can be really debilitating and stop us from really living life. These headaches may be common in relation to neck pain and stiffness, but exercise has been shown to relieve pain and stiffness Doing some gentle range of motion, learning to exhale and get your shoulders to relax can help to decrease the tension and pain.

Recent pain science is showing that education and mobility may actually be more effective at managing pain than medication alone. In this Ted Talk, Lorimer Mosely explains more clearly about why we feel pain. 

Did you know:

• Pain is a normal signal from the brain that lets us know something is wrong, but that once tissues heal (6-8 weeks) that signal should go away.
• How your brain processes pain effects how you experience that pain.
• Past experiences can influence how our brain perceives pain.
• Your body was designed to move in 3 planes of motion and the more we limit that motion, the more limited we get so when we try to move outside that motion our brain may perceive a threat and therefore signal pain and stop motion.
• People who believe they will get better actually have less chronic pain.

This stands to reason that if we can interrupt the signal from the brain we may be able to manage our pain a bit easier and therefore not need as much pain medication. 

Here are some ways to quiet your nervous system down: 

• Aerobic exercise...ideally 30 minutes per day but this can be broken into 10 minute chunks and can include anything that gets your heart rate elevated.
• Sleeping at least 6 hours/night. Yes, if pain limits sleep it can actually make the pain worse. Finding positions of comfort can help this.
• Manual therapy and progressive exercise 
• Yoga and meditation
• Positive Affirmations
• Balancing your activities and taking one task at a time, such as with doing laundry. If you have 3 loads of laundry to do, you may take 3 days to do it vs trying to get it all done at once.This may take you longer over all, but when our brain feels less threatened by laundry the signal will then go down
• Be patient with yourself and respect the healing process.
• Reconnect with your normal movement patterns and allow yourself to move through a variety of motions. Over time, your brain will recognize that motion is no longer a threat

As a physical therapist, I do not prescribe medication. My goal is to help you learn to manage your pain through movement, manual techniques and education. Pain happens. It's normal. If you are experiencing pain trying PT may help. If your MD recommends medication, also talk with them about the other options listed as well as working with a physical therapist or other manual therapy provider to your liking. Find a way to quiet your brain and lessen your pain and then get off that medication and get on with the fun in your life.