It's smart to adopt a combination of different methods to effectively treat your chronic pain. If you have mild to moderate pain, this can usually be relieved with over the counter drugs. There are also a wide variety of topical creams that you can use that can be easily applied on your skin, which will help relieve your pain, from arthritis to common muscle cramps. These are a good option for some people who don't like to take pills. The creams are said to work very well. There are no side effects such as diarrhea or upset stomach because you do not ingest the topical creams. They may not be as strong as the pills but in some cases such as arthritis it can help reduce the pain significantly.
Capsaicin is one of them; the way it works is that the cream is set to block the pain that is in transit to a substance called substance P to the brain. Capsaicin is also found naturally in hot peppers, which are said to help with some pain. Other forms of topical creams are brands like Camphor that contain menthol and eucalyptus, both of which are great for aches and pains of the body and can be found in such products as Icy Hot. Other products you may have seen in the drug store are Ben Gay, Flexall and Aspercreme. These are good for mild-to-moderate pain but they don't work on severe pain. If you don't have any luck relieving your pain with over the counter medications or creams, consult your doctor. He'll be able to advise and prescribe stronger pain relieving drugs. Drugs like Hydrocodone and Oxycontin are very good at relieving pain, but can sometimes lead to addiction. Patients take more and more, since the effect dwindles over-time.
Your doctor may also recommend physical therapy, especially if your chronic pain is injury related. Physical therapists can manage a lot of pain related ailments, such as chronic neck and back pain, spine and joint problems, sporting related injuries, and more. If prescription medication and physical therapy are ineffective in treating your chronic pain, you may need surgery or in severe cases surgical implants that constantly deliver your body pain medication.
Many people and doctors believe that drugs and medicines are the answer to easing or managing your pain. But many herbalists believe that you don't need medications to help with the pain. They believe that alternate methods like acupuncture may be able to help. Acupuncture is great for people who are under a lot of stress and after they have a treatment they swear by it. The needles may throw you off because it looks like it hurts but they are trained professionals and they know how to insert the pins as not to hurt you.
Here's 3 easy ways you start managing your chronic pain now:
1. Consume plenty of Vitamin D. Studies have shown that Vitamin D helps build stronger bones and muscles and help with chronic pain.
2. Get good nights sleep each and every night. The body heals itself during our sleep, and not getting enough good sleep can bother painful conditions.
3. Eat a healthy and balanced diet. Avoid foods with sugars and bad carbs, these kinds of foods cause inflammation and pain.
The Roadblock Called Denial
If you don't know whether or not you have a problem, it can be difficult to find a solution. Many of my clients have the mistaken belief that "I can't be addicted because I'm in pain and a doctor gave me the medication." If you do have a problem, and if in fact have been abusing or are addicted to your pain medication, as well as experiencing life-damaging consequences, this can be one of the four levels of denial. The first step in managing denial is recognizing it and understanding what level you're at.
The Four Levels of Denial
The first level of denial is a lack of information about addiction, pain and recovery. The above example shows this first level. The solution here is for you to be open to education and information about addiction, pain and recovery. It is important for you to learn as much as you possibly can about medication dependency, abuse or addiction and what constitutes effective pain management.
The second level of denial is conscious defensiveness. You know that something is wrong but you don't want to look at the problem and face the pain of knowing. You tend to vigorously defend yourself and deny a problem even though you know you have one. The solution for this level of denial is to recognize that you are experiencing an inner conflict where one part of you knows there's a problem, but another part doesn't want to admit it. To resolve this conflict you must be willing to listen to the part that knows the truth and take authentic action. The old saying "the truth will set you free" is certainly relevant in this case.
The third level is denial is an unconscious defense mechanism. You get to this level when you have stayed in the inner conflict, mentioned above, and the defensive voice keeps winning. Once this happens denial then becomes an unconscious defense mechanism. The solution here is more difficult. It usually takes outside interventions or what is called a motivational crisis to break through this defense and allow yourself to see the truth and address the problem. For some of my patients this motivational crisis was generated when their treating physicians became concerned about their use/abuse of pain medication. For others it was family members intervening and urging them to seek help.
The fourth level is denial is the delusional system-this is the toughest level to get through. Terence Gorski describes this level of denial as "a mistaken belief that is firmly held to be true despite convincing evidence that it is not true." Sometimes this fourth level is exacerbated by brain damage that was caused by the use of psychoactive substances, such as prescription medication and/or alcohol and other drugs. If your denial were at this level you probably would not be reading this article. People at this level of denial usually need psychotherapy and probably medication management to resolve their delusional system.
The Denial Management Process
Denial Management Counseling (DMC) is a treatment modality designed to assist people with alcohol and drug related problems or other self-defeating behaviors that are also experiencing high levels of denial and treatment resistance.
The DMC process focuses upon developing appropriate treatment plans, targeted interviewing, and using a sequence of proven action steps to help people to make the initial commitment to treatment. The main goal of DMC is to help motivate people to accept the need for additional help, to seek it out and follow through with specific action plans. Identifying and managing denial and resistance is often the missing link in many programs that treat addiction or chronic pain.
Goals of DMC
- Interrupt patterns of denial - Recognize potential addiction related, or other self-defeating life problems - Identify the problems and negative consequences that result from these self-defeating patterns - Motivate clients to accept a referral to the next level of treatment
In my new Denial Management Counseling for Effective Pain Management Workbook by Stephen F. Grinstead, Terence T. Gorski, and Jennifer C. Messier, I adapted the DMC process and specified it for pain management. It is an excellent resource for those people who may need more comprehensive denial management work. To learn more about it please go to my website articles page or go to my publications page to see how to order.
I believe that understanding and managing denial is crucial for effective pain management. The following are the titles and brief description of the twelve pain denial patterns from the Denial Management Counseling for Effective Pain Management Workbook, used with full permission.
The Pain Denial Pattern Checklist
1.Avoidance: "I'll do anything to not talk about my pain management problem!"
2.Total Denial: "No not me! I don't have a problem with my pain!"
3.Minimizing: "My pain management problems aren't that big of a deal!"
4.Rationalizing: "If I can find good enough reasons for my problems with pain management, I won't have to deal with them!"
5.Blaming: "If I can prove that my problems with pain management aren't my fault, I won't have to deal with them!"
6.Comparing: "Showing that others are worse off than me proves that I don't have serious problem with my pain management!"
7.Compliance: "I'll pretend to give you what you want so you'll leave me alone!"
8.Manipulating: "I play the game to convince others to do all the work for my pain management."
9.Having A Flight Into Health: "Feeling better means that I'm cured and I can coast!"
10.Fear of Change: "If I don't focus on having a problem with my pain I won't know who I am or how else to relate!"
11.Diagnosing Myself as Beyond Help: "Since nothing I do has ever worked for my pain management, I don't have to try anymore-I don't want to be let down yet again!"
12.I Have the Right to be This Way, AKA It's My Body: "I have the right to do whatever I want to do or don't want to do with my body and for my pain management and no one has the right to tell me any different!"
Both Doug Smith & Stephen F. Grinstead are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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