When you can help yourself to cope with pain, you are in control of the situation - not the pain.
Pain is the biggest single problem of all symptoms associated with any illness. It causes more misery and unhappiness than any other symptom.
When not treated effectively, pain can lead to physical and mental exhaustion, disablement and depression. Patients with pain take longer to get well and generally need more support from family, friends and professionals.
Pain relief doesn't always have to come in the shape of drugs. There are many alternatives which can be used alongside your medication.
Knowing your illness and what to expect often results in a person coping better with pain. If you are worried about your pain or what is causing it then your anxiety will make your pain much worse than it need be.
A few years ago, many doctors believed that patients were better off if they didn't know anything about their illness. But there is now a considerable amount of evidence to show that the truth is just the opposite, most patients suffer less pain and less anxiety if they are told what is wrong with them, what to expect and how best they can cope with their problems.
One of the most effective pain relief methods is positive thinking and laughter. I know we're always being told to 'be positive' - only someone who doesn't live with pain could say this easily. However, although we may not be able to change the situation, we can change the way we view it. We can't magic the pain away, but we can change the way we feel about it. This is being positive and will make a massive difference to your life. Laughter can be described as one of the best ways of tackling and defeating pain. We don't know why laughter reduces pain but it may be as simple as diverting attention away from the pain. By surrounding yourself with people who are generally happy and cheerful perks up your attitude to life. If you spend all your time with gloomy people this will eventually affect you and you will inevitably begin to adopt their gloominess. Try to start each day in a cheerful frame of mind. If you get up in the morning thinking of how your pain restricts your lifestyle and how it spoils everything, then you will turn a good day into a bad one before it has begun.
It isn't easy to be optimistic but unless you are positive pain will do even more damage. Have you ever had a day when everything seems to go wrong? If you have then you know that by the end of it the smallest problem can become a crisis. Your response to pain is influenced by your moods in the same way. If you are feeling unhappy your pain will seem worse.
The way you breathe can lessen the pain you feel. Most of us breathe too shallowly. When you don't use your lungs full capacity you can quickly feel more tense, panicky and increase your pain levels.
Deeper breathing can have many positive effects but the best of all is that it can decrease your pain levels.
Learn how to check your breathing right now:
Put one hand on your chest, put the other between the bottom of your rib cage and your abdomen, just let your hands rest there for a few moments, notice which hand moves the most.
For breathing which will give you maximum natural healing, your lower hand should move the most.
Learn how to 'breathe out the pain'.
Breathe in deeply and as you breathe out imagine the pain leaving your body. Feel yourself relaxing and in time and with practice this can be a good form of pain relief.
You can also relieve your pain using only your imagination through a technique called visualisation. Imagine yourself floating in a warm, blue healing pool of water. Imagine it soothing and enveloping you, releasing your pain. Let it float away from you. Feel yourself cradled and healed by the blue, blue water.
Visualisation works because your subconscious mind accepts the messages it is fed - whether they are real or not. That is the reason why affirmations, thoughts and visualisations work.
Many therapists use visualisation and affirmations to enhance their healing techniques, and they can be incorporated into therapy sessions. Ask the therapist for advice on this aspect of your pain control.
Complementary therapy can play a big part in pain reduction and coping with pain. It can be used effectively alongside conventional medicine. The best way to approach any therapy is to try it for a few weeks to see what happens. Not every therapy suits every person so monitor your progress.
by Jan Sadler, author of Natural Pain Relief and of the PainSupport