What To Do When Pain Becomes Chronic

April 1, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

As we get older, we start to notice that our bodies simply don’t feel the same as they did when we were younger. Instead of jumping out of bed like a spry chicken, we may be a little stiff, have a few dull aches or even notice some pain in new places. This discomfort may fade as we start to move more throughout the day, but what if that dull pain never goes away, or it becomes more intense? When pain becomes more regular, it’s known as chronic pain, and treating it is one of Dr. Cohn’s specialties.

When Pain Becomes Chronic

If you’ve noticed that aches and pains are becoming more frequent, there are a few things you’ll want to do to get back to a pain-free way of living. Here are some things you should do if you are dealing with constant or chronic pain.

1. Acknowledge It – Don’t try to keep pushing through each day as if this chronic condition is normal. Even though you’re getting older, it’s important to remember that chronic pain is never normal and is not just a part of the aging process. If you continue to do the same actions that led to its onset in the first place, symptoms are only going to get worse, which can also make treatment much harder.

2. Assess Your Daily Activities – Take a step back and consider how your lifestyle may be contributing to or working to relieve the pain. A healthy diet and regular exercise can oftentimes help to fight back against chronic pain, whereas a sedentary lifestyle and poor posture could be the direct cause of your chronic low back pain. Conduct a self-assessment of your daily activities and work to make some positive changes to see if that helps.

3. Talk To A Doctor – Whether it is your primary care physician or a pain management specialist like Dr. Cohn, you need to talk to a professional about your pain. When pain becomes chronic, you owe it to yourself to connect with a specialist who can provide you with a comprehensive diagnosis and set you up with an individualized treatment plan. Oftentimes treatment is simpler than expected once you connect with someone with decades of experience helping others overcome similar conditions.

4. Get Regular Sleep – Sleep is essential for your body and your mind. A number of bodily functions reset and rest while you’re asleep, and it also helps you destress from the day. All of this is imperative for pain control. If you’re not getting good sleep, don’t be surprised if you pain worsens. Make your bedroom an environment that is conducive to restful and uninterrupted sleep.

5. Increase Your Activity – A final thing to do if you have chronic pain is to increase your daily activity. That may seem counter-intuitive, but activity will drive muscle development and stability in areas that may be causing your pain. You don’t need to run a marathon, but go for a 30-minute walk or find simple ways to move more each day. Your body thrives with movement, whereas muscles can atrophy if we don’t work to develop them. It won’t always be easy if you have chronic pain, but movement is typically very helpful for a variety of pain conditions.

Don’t let chronic pain become your new normal. For help overcoming your chronic pain condition, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

Dietary Tips If You Have Fibromyalgia

March 24, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

dietary Fibromyalgia is a tricky condition that is categorized by widespread pain and fatigue, and there is no direct known cause for why it develops. Pain specialists oftentimes work to control symptoms through lifestyle adjustments and increasing a person’s daily exercise. One simple adjustment that oftentimes help to quell fibromyalgia symptoms is improving your daily diet. In today’s blog, we share some tips for controlling fibromyalgia symptoms with some simple dietary changes.

How Your Diet Can Help Control Fibromylagia Symptoms

Changing your diet won’t completely cute you of fibromylagia, but these healthy changes can help to put an end to inflammatory reactions in your digestive system that can sometimes serve to make your fibromyalgia worse. Here are some steps to take if you want to see if you can alleviate symptoms through dietary changes.

1. Journal – Start taking a little more ownership in what you put in your body and how it affects your condition by starting a daily journal. Document what foods you eat, when you eat, who much you ate and how you feel minutes and hours after the meal. Start to map out certain trigger foods and work to avoid them.

2. Avoid Caffeine And Alcohol – Not only can caffeine and alcohol sometimes serve to make fibromyalgia symptoms worse, but they can also prevent us from getting restful sleep. Poor sleep quality can cause fibro flare-ups so you need to strive to get good sleep each night, and caffeine and alcohol can disrupt that.

3. Ditch Highly Processed Foods – Highly processed foods are harder to break down for your digestive system, and this can lead to an inflammatory reaction. Foods that are high in carbohydrates or sugar are typically highly processed and can lead to a worsening of fibromyalgia symptoms.

4. Get Your Daily Dose Of Vitamins And Nutrients – Your body works best when it gets its daily dose of vitamins and nutrients from food sources. These vitamins and minerals can help to ward off inflammation and in turn keep our fibromyalgia in check. Reach for a range of foods from the most sought after food groups, like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

5. Derive Energy From Your Diet – Fibromyalgia can leave a person feeling fatigued, which is why it’s oftentimes helpful to work to derive some natural energy from your food sources. You can best do this by looking for foods that are low in sugar and high in fiber. Some foods that are good natural sources of energy include:

Nuts
Fish
Beans
Avocado
Beans

We’re confident that adjusting your diet and working to make some healthy changes can have a positive affect on your fibromyalgia, but if you’re running into trouble or want more hands-on assistance, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today!

How Adverse Events Affect Children With Chronic Pain

March 17, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Children with chronic pain who experience adverse childhood events (ACEs) are more likely to suffer an increase in symptom severity, according to new research. This suggests that chronic pain should be monitored even more closely if a child is subjected to difficult or stressful events.

For the study, researchers grouped children with chronic pain conditions or rheumatic diseases into one of three groups:

Pain with zero adverse childhood events
Pain with one adverse childhood event
Pain with two or more adverse childhood events

Although the researchers didn’t spell out exactly what type of adverse events were tracked for the study, they did mention that a wide array of adverse events were used as data points. They said traumatic experiences included a range of physical, mental and sexual abuse, and things like divorce or family mental illness.

“The results indicate that children with chronic pain and/or rheumatologic diseases who are exposed to ACEs are at increased risk of worse functional disability, greater pain-related symptomatology, and a higher burden of co-morbid mental health conditions,” researchers wrote. Patients who had experienced two or more adverse childhood events had “more somatic symptoms, worse functional disability, and a higher proportion of mental health conditions.”

Mental Health And Chronic Pain Symptoms

As we’ve talked about at length on the blog in the past, chronic pain and your mental health are closely connected, so it should come as no surprise that children with chronic pain who experience traumatic life events would be at risk for more severe pain symptoms. Chronic pain is not just a physical condition, and mental factors like stress or anxiety can absolutely make physical symptoms worse.

While the study only focused on children, the results should likely be applied to all populations that are dealing with a chronic pain condition. If you experience an adverse event in your life, don’t be surprised if your pain or your symptoms worsen. It’s not ideal, but it’s a direct result of this new mental stress and fatigue.

The only bright spot about this news is that it helps us understand that we need to be aware of the physical issues that may come along with a psychologically traumatic event. If we’re aware of how these events can impact our physical health, we can help patients get the care they need sooner or develop some coping skills to lessen the effects of the event. Patients should also be up front with their pain care providers about what’s going on in their life so that providers can help them appropriately manage your pain. You don’t need to go into great detail about your divorce or family loss, but let your pain care specialist know that you’re going through some stressful life events and that you’re aware stress and worsening symptoms can go hand in hand.

We want to help you find pain relief, and that involves treating the physical, mental and emotional aspects of your condition. To connect with a provider who will help treat all these aspects and more, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

Tips For Dealing With Chronic Pain Flareups

March 11, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Chronic pain comes in many different forms. For some people, pain is consistent and dull, while for others it is spontaneous and severe. When pain seems to come and go in waves, this is categorized as a “flareup” or “pain flare.” These pain flares are typically associated with inflammation of a joint or muscle, and it can lead to an intense burst of pain or discomfort. In today’s blog, we share some tips for dealing with and overcoming these chronic pain flareups.

Causes And Treatments Of Pain Flares

A chronic pain flareup can develop for a variety of reasons, with some being more intense than others. For example, we’re heard of patients who have flareups after intense physical exercise, while others can be triggered by much smaller actions like sneezing. Others will notice that their chronic pain flareup is the result of mental and emotional forces, like stress and anxiety. Figuring out your pain trigger is extremely important for being able to effectively manage your pain flareups. A pain management specialist can help to determine your triggers and the underlying cause of your chronic pain condition.

As we mentioned above, treating your chronic pain flareup revolves around identifying your underlying trigger, but there are also some common treatments for flares that may help provide some pain relief. Here’s a look at some of the most common treatments for pain flares.

Low-Impact Exercise – Low-impact exercise can be great for helping to control flareups. Exercise gets your heart pumping, which sends oxygenated blood throughout your body to areas that need it most, and exercise releases endorphins in your brain, which act as natural pain relievers.

Stay Healthy – A response from your immune system can also lead to a flareup, so many people find it helpful to work to avoid sicknesses. Most people try to do this regardless of whether or not they have a chronic pain condition, but it still stands as a reminder to wash your hands regularly and to get plenty of vitamins and minerals in your diet that can help with immunity.

Find Ways To Destress – Stress can be a trigger point, and a chronic pain condition can also be stressful, so it’s easier said than done to say “find ways to destress” in the midst of a flareup. That said, dive into some deep breathing exercises, find a quiet place in your house to lay down, practice yoga or take a walk around the block. Find little ways to manage stress when it bubbles up to help control a flareup before it worsens.

Use Ice Or Heat – Cold or hot therapy can also be very helpful in working to calm inflammation, increase blood flow and reducing the severity of a flareup before it starts or after it has begun. Try a warm compress or a cold shower and figure out what works best for your body.

Talk To Your Doctor – Finally, if you’re dealing with new or chronic pain flareups, bring them to the attention of your pain specialist. It could be related to your underlying pain issue, or it could have a completely independent trigger, but you’ll never know unless you connect with a specialist and get to the bottom of your issue. Once you know what’s causing your flareups, you’ll be able to come up with an individualized treatment plan.

For more information on how you can regain control over your chronic pain condition or pain flareups, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

Five Lifestyle Changes To Help Alleviate Chronic Back Pain

February 24, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

For a number of patients with chronic back pain, some of their everyday actions end up making their pain worse, even if they don’t realize it in the moment. It’s easy to overlook some of the contributing factors to chronic back pain, but once you’ve identified them, you’d be amazed at how much help a few lifestyle tweaks can do for your pain. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at five lifestyle changes that can help alleviate chronic back pain.

Lifestyle Adjustments To Prevent And Treat Chronic Back Pain

Here are five little adjustments you can make throughout the day or add to your daily routine that can make a world of difference in helping you overcome your condition.

1. Move More – Sitting puts a lot of stress on your lower spine, which is the most common location for chronic back pain. Do less sitting and more moving. Limit your time on the couch in front of the television, and consider standing more or investing in a sit-to-stand workstation at the office. Excess standing can be just as harmful to your spine as too much sitting, so try to switch it up throughout the day, especially if soreness is starting to creep in.

2. Regular Posture Checks – Our heads are heavy, and if they aren’t in alignment with our shoulders, you can end up putting a lot of strain on your cervical spine. If you’re slouching on the couch or hunched forward looking at your computer screen, you might develop a case of “tech neck.” Perform regular posture checks throughout the day and make adjustments as needed.

3. Let Your Diet Work For You Instead Of Against You – A bad diet can oftentimes serve to make back pain worse, whereas a healthy diet can act as its own kind of medication. Carbohydrate-dense foods and sugary snacks can contribute to inflammation in the spine, which can compress key nerves and structures and make back pain worse. Conversely, a healthy diet full of vegetables, fish, nuts and fruit can help prevent inflammation and ensure your body gets nutrients that are necessary for healthy tissue growth and function. Rework your diet, and your back may start feeling better.

4. Stress Relief – Whenever we tell patients to de-stress, it always sounds easier in words than it is in practice. It would be great if we could remove stress from our lives, but if you’re juggling work, family and a social life, stress in inevitable. If you can’t find ways to minimize stress, find ways to manage it when it develops. Healthy outlets for stress can have physical benefits for your body. Whether it’s reading, yoga or meditation, find a healthy outlet for your stress.

5. Rethink Exercise – Finally, we challenge you to rethink your exercise routine if you have chronic back pain. You don’t need to go through a grueling gym routine in order to reap the benefits of exercise, so start small and build up to a sustainable exercise routine. Go for a walk around your block, swim some laps at the local swimming pool or do a yoga class with a friend. Over time, build up your distance or duration, as this will help to slowly strengthen key muscles groups that support your spine. Don’t be intimated by exercise because you think you need to lift heavy weights or run a certain number of miles. Set small, attainable goals and work up from there.

If you do these five things, we’re confident you’ll have more control over your chronic back pain condition. And for professional assistance to your chronic pain issue, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.