Chronic pain can make living an active life a little harder, but it’s certainly not impossible to stay active despite your chronic pain condition. In today’s blog, we share some tips for how you can work to maintain an active lifestyle even though you are managing a chronic pain condition.
Staying Active Despite Chronic Pain
It is important to remember that chronic pain is highly individualized, so it’s unlikely that all of these tips will work for every single patient hoping to stay active in spite of their chronic pain condition. That said, we’re confident that at least a couple of these tips can help you find it a little easier to stay active in the face of your pain condition. Here’s what we recommend.
1. Capitalize On The Good Days – Your pain and your mood can ebb and flow each day based on your symptoms, and you should never be ashamed to cancel plans or skip a workout if you’re dealing with a significant flareup. Conversely, you also want to pounce on an opportunity. If you’re having a good day, make the most of it. You don’t need to scale Mt. Everest or run a marathon simply because you are having a good day, but you should strive to be more active, because activity begets more activity. It may be easier to stack more good active days in a row if you take advantage of the time when your body can handle physical activity.
2. Know Your Limits – At the same time, it’s important to learn about your physical limits and to not overdo it during physical activity. If you’re taking on a new activity like hiking or cycling, don’t do too much at the beginning. Start slow and gradually build up your pace and your distance. Taking on too much physical activity can overstress your body and lead to injuries or worsening pain symptoms.
3. Utilize Ice And Heat – When you’ve returned home after your adventure, be sure to take care of your body with ice and heat. Ice packs can help to control swelling that may be more common in patients with certain chronic pain conditions, and hot packs or a warm bath can help to open up blood vessels and improve healthy blood flow throughout your body. See which methods help your body recover following periods of physical activity.
4. Strive For Healthy Sleep – Again, we know that it is easier said than done to tell a patient with a chronic pain condition that they could benefit from getting more quality sleep, but it really should become a point of emphasis if you want to pursue an active lifestyle. Restorative sleep ensures that we wake up ready to attack the day, and healthy sleep has been shown to help control pain sensitivity levels. Poor sleep can make us more sensitive to pain signals, which can only make it harder to get out and be active. Try to go to bed at the same time at night in a dark, distraction-free room, and you may find that you have more energy each morning.
5. Consistency Is Key – Finally, consistency is crucial when trying to maintain an active lifestyle with chronic pain. If you can gradually increase your activity levels and strive to always hit these goals each week, even in the face of chronic pain, it will be easier to always hit your activity targets and take on more physical tasks. It will take time and it won’t be easy, but forcing yourself to remain consistent in the short-term will make it easier to stay active in the long run.
If you focus on the above tips and connect with a pain specialist like Dr. Cohn for your individual pain care needs, we know that you can get back to living an active and independent lifestyle. For more information, or for help with your pain issue, give his office a call today at (952) 738-4580.