Pain can be hurtful and interfere with daily activities like work, sleep, and quality time with friends and family. Pain management is a solution to provide relief to enjoy your life.

Chronic pain is complicated, and it takes time to find the best pain relief method that works best for them. Pain management options include hot and cold therapy, yoga, and drug treatments. 

Are you suffering from chronic conditions, arthritic joints, or old injuries? Looking for ways for pain management? 

Here, we have listed the four best pain management techniques that have proven successful for chronic pain. 

If you, too, are suffering from something similar, explore these options to find what works best for you. 

How common is chronic pain?

Statistics show that around 20% of adults in the United States suffer from chronic pain, and 8% have high-impact chronic pain. 

Not just that, pain and disease are associated with the leading cause of disability, and the number of people living with chronic pain is increasing. 

The pain is associated with numerous other physical and mental health conditions like depression, sleep problems, social isolation, overuse of medication, and such. 

As a result, finding a pain management alternative for chronic pain becomes a must. 

What is pain management? 

Pain management is the method or technique used to reduce or eradicate a person’s pain. 

There are several ways to manage pain, and these ways are often referred to as pain management.  

Pain management has a range of strategies and techniques developed to alleviate or at least reduce pain, particularly chronic pain in this situation. It could be a physical technique, a mind-body technique, a relaxation technique, or more. 

Its goal is to improve the person’s quality of life, minimize the negative impact and enhance the ability to perform day-to-day activities. 

These approaches vary based on factors like the underlying cause of the pain, individual preferences, and the types of pain suffered. 

4 compelling strategies for chronic pain management

There are numerous ways to manage chronic pain, and not all of them include medication and surgeries. 

Below, we’ve listed the 4 compelling ways to manage chronic pain. 

Exercise and physical activity (Physical technique)

Exercise and physical activity help reduce chronic pain. During training, our brain releases endorphins – a chemical that improves mood and blocks pain signals. 

Further, any physical activity in your day-to-day life helps you strengthen the muscle and helps in the prevention of re-injury. 

In many cases, exercise helps strengthen the muscle contributing to pain, creating stability in your chronic pain. 

Not just that, physical activity and any form of exercise are highly suggested to any age group. They have many health benefits and can also help in weight loss, and both help reduce discomfort and pain tolerance. 

When selecting an exercise for your body, you must be careful. You can choose workouts based on your enjoyment and accessibility and the impact it creates on your pain. 

However, it’s suggested to consult your physician before exercising. In a few cases, the wrong form of exercise can be excessive for your body. Individuals suffering from chronic pain or other medical issues must also consult their doctor. 

Exercise and physical activity are the most effective physical techniques to help reduce chronic pain. 

Hot and cold therapy, massage, physical therapy, and acupuncture are other physical techniques that could be helpful for chronic pain. 

Yoga (Mind-body technique)

Yoga is a mind-body technique that includes a correct physical posture, a healthy breathing exercise, and meditation. 

It keeps you relaxed and strengthens your body through various forms of stretch and postures. There are different yoga postures developed for chronic pains. 

In many cases, yoga could be better than heavy exercises. It combines every element, like stretching, training, and meditation – a full mind-body practice. 

A 2010 study showed that yoga’s effects on chronic pain helped them cope with pain and have more control over it. This, as a result, positively impacted their everyday life. Many studies have proved that yoga is helpful to help reduce chronic pain. 

What makes it a suitable technique for everyone is its safe and accessible pain management approach that is easy to even try at home. 

Doing yoga makes your body flexible and helps you relax. It can also help you prevent any other chronic pain. 

You can quickly learn yoga at home through online videos or physical classes with your yoga instructor. 

Yoga is a popular mind-body technique that combines the psychological aspect to it. Further, Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), Tai chi, is another popular technique that helps reduce chronic pain. 

Breathing exercise (Relaxation technique)

Breathing exercise like meditation has been shown to help reduce chronic pain by 57% and high up to 90%. 

Breathing exercises help you become mindful. As a result, this soothes the brain patterns underlying pain, and, over time, you can alter the structure of your brain so that you no longer feel the pain. It is proven to help reduce chronic pain. 

Breathing exercise focuses on focusing on breathing and being mindful. This helps you focus on your body and observe pains around the body as they arise. 

If you’re stressed with your chronic pain, practicing breathing exercises can help ease your tension. 

These exercises help release endorphins, also known as the body’s natural painkillers. 

Breathing exercise is a relaxation technique that keeps your mind and body at peace. Doing these exercises daily gives you the strength to endure the pain and not let this pain affect you in your day-to-day activities. 

Medical treatment (Drug-based technique)

A wide variety of meditation and medicine is available to help relieve chronic pain. Depending on the type of pain you’re suffering, you can select the best treatment. Rather than proceeding with surgeries, trying medication could be helpful as well. 

These medications help you reduce inflammation and pain. These medicines appear in the form of capsules, tablets, creams, or gels that you could eat and apply on the part of your body. 

However, it is suggested to consult a doctor before drug-based relaxation. 

If you’re struggling daily with side effects like dizziness, dry mouth, fatigue, and headaches, antidepressants can help you! 

It’s only possible to list some drug-based medications because various medicines are available depending on the type of chronic pain and the period. It’s best to consult your doctor and start medication right away. 

We mentioned this method in the last because this is the most expensive compared to other techniques. But, if none of the methods works, you’ll have to try the drug-based approach for pain management.

Conclusion

When none of these methods work, pain can be alleviated via surgery. While surgery does have certain risks, it could be life-changing for someone living with chronic pain for an extended period. 

If you also suffer from chronic pain, we suggest you consider all these techniques and see what works best for you! Experts at HealthCare Guys are available for you to help assess your pain determination and help you provide suitable treatment options, along with suggesting the best form of exercise and yoga postures. 

Our surgeons are always considerate to understand your situation, perform tests, understand the underlying reason for the pain, and recommend surgery. 

That being said, with all this information, you’ll have all the required information to decide for yourself!

Here, we discussed what chronic pain is, its pain management, and four effective strategies focusing on four different aspects.