Using all of your tools
What's in your personal pain management toolkit?
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Think about all the things you can do and all the different tools you can use to help you get some relief from your pain.
Maybe you think of things you’ve tried in the past, things you’ve never tried, and things you’d like to try.
The Pain Management Toolkit below shows some different kinds of approaches that others have used to manage pain.
As you consider all the “pain tools” that you can use, remember:
- Living a full life with chronic pain means changing the pain when you can, accepting the pain when you can’t change it, and getting good at knowing how to balance both of these ways of dealing with pain.
- Which tools you put in your pain toolkit may change over time. Things that work today may not work tomorrow. And things you tried in the past may work better now than they did before! You must be flexible in how you manage your pain.
Medications
There are many medications designed to reduce pain. Pain medications work best when they are matched to the type of pain you have. For instance, some medications are specifically for pain from nerve damage (“neuropathic” pain) and others work best on muscle aches and pain. Visit this resource from PainGuide for more information on different kinds of pain medications.
Exercise
Making exercise a habit can feel like a major challenge when you have chronic pain. Maybe you feel like your pain is too bad to exercise, are worried about making your pain worse, or are not sure how to exercise with your limitations. However, being physically active, especially when it is a habit, can help you manage your pain. Visit this resource from PainGuide for tips on how to exercise when living with pain.
Pacing Activity
Balancing activity and rest can be an important part of managing your pain. People with chronic pain often “overdo it” when they feel okay and then have worse pain and lower energy later. Breaking big tasks up into smaller tasks and taking rest breaks before pain flares up can be one tool to managing your pain. Visit this resource from PainGuide for information on how to pace activity to manage pain.
Sleep
Sleep and pain can majorly impact each other. Having bad pain can interrupt your sleep. Similarly, sleeping poorly - especially if poor sleep lasts for a long time - can make your pain worse. Having a spinal cord injury can affect your sleep in many ways; but there may be things you can do to improve your sleep (and your pain!). Visit this resource from PainGuide for more information on sleep and pain.
Physical Therapy
You may have had a lot of contact with physical therapists after your spinal cord injury, to help you with mobility and physical functioning. Physical therapy may also help you manage your pain. Visit this resource from PainGuide for information on physical therapy for pain.
Massage
A clinical massage can help relieve muscle tension in specific parts of the body and can also result in overall tensions and stress relief. Visit this resource from PainGuide for information on different types of massage for pain.
Acupuncture and Acupressure
Acupuncture is a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine that has been used as a medical treatment for thousands of years. Acupuncture involves inserting very thin needles into specific “acupoints” for pain relief. Acupressure does not involve needles - instead, pressure is applied to acupoints for pain relief. Visit these PainGuide resources on acupuncture and acupressure for pain.
Diet
Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight are not just part of good overall health, they can also help in managing your pain. Visit this resource from PainGuide on a healthy diet and supplements for pain.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS for short, is a small device that delivers small electrical pulses to the surface of the skin. The nervous system registers these pulses and sends messages to the brain, blunting pain sensations. Visit this resource from PainGuide for information on TENS.
Other Self- and Professional Care for Pain
Pain is a hard to manage symptom. So, for most people there is no single “silver bullet” that solves the pain problem. Having a collection of tools in your pain “toolkit” can help you be more effective at managing your pain. Visit these resources in PainGuide for more pain management strategies.