Five Life Hacks If You’re Living With Chronic Pain

March 2, 2023 / Thomas Cohn, MD

We’re all looking for ways to make life a little easier, and that’s especially true if you’re living with chronic pain. Nowadays we’re hearing more about “Life Hacks” on places like Instagram and TikTok that show how you can do some simple things to make your life a lot easier. So do life hacks for the chronic pain sufferer exist? In today’s blog, we share five life hacks to consider if you’re living with chronic pain.

Chronic Pain Life Hacks

Here are some simple hacks to consider if you want to make life a little easier while battling a chronic pain condition:

1. Use Ice And Heat To Your Advantage – Oftentimes chronic pain conditions flare up as a result of inflammation or poor circulation, but you can fight these issues with an ice pack or a heating pad. Invest in a small ice pack or a heated blanket so that you can use ice and heat to your advantage. Calm inflammation after a long day with ice packs, or bring healthy blood to an area with heat to promote improved circulation. These simple gadgets can help you prevent flareups throughout the day.

2. Hack The Kitchen – Clean eating can help to keep chronic pain symptoms at bay and promote a healthy lifestyle, but we know how hard it can be to cook when you’re battling chronic pain. Don’t try to spend a bunch of time in the kitchen every night. Take advantage of items like crock pots and pressure cookers that can take some of the hassle out of cooking. Or if you’re having a good day, meal prep for the coming days so that you have some healthy options to reach for when you’re just not feeling up to cooking.

3. Find Your Stress Outlet – This tip is helpful for anyone, regardless of whether or not you have chronic pain. We all deal with stress, anxiety and pressure every day, and these stressors can lead to physical symptoms if we don’t manage them effectively. Really work to find a stress mitigation technique that is right for you. Some people do deep breathing exercises, others go for a run, while some curl up with a good book to take their mind somewhere else. Find what works best for you, because managing stress can actually help to control your chronic pain condition.

4. Hack Your Sleep Cycle – Sleep is a vitally important restorative process that allows our bodies to heal from the rigors of the day. We don’t want you to stay in bed all day, because exercise and physical activity have been shown to be effective proactive treatments for a number of different chronic pain conditions, but when it comes time to sleep, make it easier to achieve high quality rest. You can do this by making the room cool and as dark as possible, which oftentimes means turning off the television and putting the phone on the night stand. When you crawl into bed, the only thing you should be focusing on is sleep. We know that’s easier said than done if you have chronic pain, but remove any other distractions and light sources so that you have an ideal sleep environment.

5. Find A Specialist Who Cares – Chronic pain isn’t a battle you need to fight alone, but far too many patients aren’t getting the right type of help from their primary care physician. You owe it to yourself to connect with a specialist who really understands specific chronic pain conditions and whose sole focus is solving your individual issues. Make life easier on yourself by connecting with a specialist who is willing to go above and beyond for you.

To connect with a specialist who cares, or for help with any of the other tips on this list, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.

How Untreated Chronic Pain Can Increase Your Dementia Risk

February 23, 2023 / Thomas Cohn, MD

New research published this week found that untreated chronic pain can increase a person’s risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and that risk increases based on the number of areas in the body suffering from chronic pain.

The findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that chronic pain had an interesting effect on a person’s hippocampus, the area of the brain that is associated with learning and memory. Researchers compared the size of the hippocampus in patients with chronic pain to the size of the hippocampus in aging individuals without chronic pain. When comparing these models, researchers found that chronic pain may artificially age the hippocampus. When compared to a healthy 60-year-old patient, researchers found:

Patients with one chronic pain site had a hippocampus that had aged by an additional year.
Patients with two chronic pain sites had a hippocampus that had aged by roughly two additional years.
Patients with five or more chronic pain sites had a hippocampus that had aged by up to an additional eight years.

“In other words, the hippocampal (grey matter volume) in a 60-year-old individual with (chronic pain) at two body sites was similar to the volume of (pain free) controls aged 62-year-old,” wrote corresponding author Tu Yiheng and his colleagues.

So while you may only be 60 years old, if you are suffering from chronic pain in five or more locations in your body, your hippocampus may have experienced aging similar to that of a 68-year-old. Aging is a common underlying factor in dementia onset, and if your brain is artificially aged due to chronic pain, you may be more likely to experience dementia or cognitive decline.

Prevent Dementia By Treating Chronic Pain

While the findings may be a little concerning for patients dealing with chronic pain, fortunately we can try to reduce our dementia risk by really working to control and treat our chronic pain condition. This is certainly easier said than done, but if you develop a plan and work closely with a pain management specialist like Dr. Cohn, not only can you lead a more comfortable life free of chronic pain, but you can keep your brain healthy as you age.

Treating chronic pain is highly individualized, but may patients find that a combination of the following techniques can help them gain more control over their chronic pain condition:

Exercise
Posture Improvements
Dietary Changes
Physical Therapy
Stress Relief
Sleep Quality Improvements
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Deep Breathing Techniques

As you can see, all of the above techniques are active treatments that focus on improving one or more aspects of your health. Pain medications can certainly play a role in chronic pain management, but the above techniques are better at targeting the underlying pain cause and providing long-term relief.

Of course, working with a pain management specialist can help you find the right combination of treatments for your specific needs. If you want help identifying a pain treatment plan that’s right for you, or you just want to talk to a pain management provider about your symptoms, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.

How To Boost Your Energy If You Have Chronic Pain

February 17, 2023February 17, 2023 / Thomas Cohn, MD

energy Anyone who has or is currently dealing with a chronic pain condition knows just how physically draining the issue can be. Good days can be exhausting, and it can be hard to muster up the energy to just get out of bed on the bad days. However, it’s important that you get out and be active, as exercise and interactions with others can help to manage your pain condition. But how can you find the energy to thrive in the face of a chronic pain condition? We share some tips for how you can boost your energy if you’re often fatigued due to a chronic pain condition.

Finding More Energy If You Have Chronic Pain

Here are some ways you can work to become more energized in the face of chronic pain.

1. Improve Your Diet – One of the simplest ways to get more energy is to tweak your diet a bit. Foods that are high in fat can leave you feeling sluggish, and while sugar may provide a short-term boost in energy, it also has a propensity to cause you to come crashing down. Instead, choose healthier foods that will help to fuel your body. Fruits, leafy vegetables, nuts, fish and beans are all packed full of vitamins and nutrients that can help provide the right kind of energy for your body.

2. Exercise – It may seem odd that a physically draining activity like exercise can actually help you feel more energized, but it’s true. Exercise gets your heart rate up and increases blood flow to the brain, both of which can help you feel more energized. A high intensity workout can leave you feeling tired, but some light exercise like walking, cycling or swimming can leave you feeling more energized than when you started the activity.

3. Healthy Sleep – We understand that chronic pain can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. but it’s really important that you work to get in a healthy sleep rhythm if you want to feel more energized in the morning. Going to bed at irregular times and sleeping with a bright television on can make it harder to achieve good restful sleep. You can learn more about developing a healthy sleep routine if you have chronic pain in this blog.

4. Find Your Stress Outlet – Chronic pain can be extremely stressful, but we’re willing to bet that it is not the only form of stress in your life. Stress can be physically draining, so it’s imperative that you find healthy ways to manage stress. Whether that involves exercise, breathing techniques, yoga or any other technique that works for you, if you can find a healthy way to manage stress, you may find a little extra pep in your step.

5. Stay Hydrated – A final way to help avoid feeling achy, cramped and fatigued is by staying hydrated. When you’re dehydrated, your muscles will tire more easily, and it can also lead to a chronic pain flareup. Try to drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated. A good goal to aim for is to take your body weight, cut it in half and drink that many ounces of water eat day.

If you follow those five techniques and you connect with a pain management specialist like Dr. Cohn who can give you the individualized attention you need, we’re confident that you’ll feel more energized and gain more control over your chronic pain condition. For more information, contact his office today at (952) 738-4580.

New Findings On Why Poor Sleep May Lead To Chronic Pain

January 27, 2023 / Thomas Cohn, MD

sleep A new study involving mice may have provided some more insights into why poor sleep and chronic pain may be linked.

According to the study, nerve injuries may cause certain brain cells to act excitedly during sleep, and this sudden excitement may lead to chronic pain onset. On a positive note, researchers say that stopping this hyperactivity during sleep could help provide significant pain relief

As we’ve talked about on the blog in the past, sleep disorders and chronic pain are closely related, but the exact nature of why certain sleep problems increase the risk of different types of chronic pain is not well understood. We’ve talked about how it can be hard to break out of the sleep-pain cycle, which theorizes that chronic pain makes it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep, and poor sleep quality can intensify pain sensations, but this recent study wanted to learn more about the exact connection between the two.

Sleep And Chronic Pain

For the study, researchers honed in on neuropathic pain, which is pain that derives from an injury or disease in the nerves that relays sensory information from the body to the brain. Researchers studied mice with injuries in one of the sciatic nerves, the large nerve that branches from the spinal cord through the hind legs. The team analyzed brain activity in the mice both before and after the sciatic nerve injury in order to see how the brain responded to this new pain. The team found that there were significant changes after the injury in the wrinkled cerebral cortex, which is the area that receives and stores sensory data from the hind legs. Moreover, certain brain cells became progressively more active in the weeks after the injury as the mice’s pain became chronic.

Perhaps most interestingly, this brain cell activity peaked during non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM), which is when deep sleep occurs. Researchers said these neurons became hyperactive during NREM sleep as a result of an issue with the anterior nucleus basalis, a cluster of neurons located deep in the front of the brain. Researchers noted that the activity of the anterior nucleus basalis also increased after the nerve injury, and this triggered the cells to send a chemical response to the cerebral cortex. As a result of this chain reaction, the previously mentioned brain cells shifted into overdrive during NREM sleep.

This increase in brain activity was linked to an increase in pain sensitivity in mice, as researchers stated that once-painless stimuli suddenly became painful. In follow up experiments, researchers were able to relieve this pain by blocking cell hyperactivity along certain neural pathways during NREM sleep.

“Inhibition of this pathway during NREM sleep, but not wakefulness, corrects neuronal hyperactivation and alleviates pain,” the researchers concluded.

So while the study only examined mice, it does provide insights into how neural action during sleep can lead to increased pain during wake periods, and researchers are hoping that some of the findings would be similar in a human population. Future studies are sure to follow, and hopefully we continue to learn more about the connection between poor sleep and chronic pain onset.

For now, do what you can to prioritize healthy sleep if you have a chronic pain condition. Avoid caffeine late in the day, get regular exercise, go to bed around the same time each night and keep electronics out of the bedroom so that you have an ideal sleep environment. You may not be able to control what happens during NREM sleep, but you can work to break out of the sleep-pain cycle by making it easier for your body to fall asleep and stay asleep.

If you’re dealing with sleep issues as a result of your chronic pain condition, or you want help with a different pain issue, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

Five Ways To Get Your Doctor To Take Your Chronic Pain Seriously

January 5, 2023 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Chronic pain is nothing if not frustrating, and that’s especially true when you’re trying to get others to understand the extent of your chronic pain condition. People oftentimes fail to understand the depth of another person’s chronic pain simply because pain is so unique to the individual. And while you may not be much worse off if a friend or family member doesn’t take your pain seriously, you can feel helpless when it’s a medical professional who isn’t taking you seriously.

Not being taken seriously or not being believed is one of the biggest complaints we hear from patients who have had no success treating their pain condition with other providers. We strive to show that we take each patient seriously, but if you want to make it easier for your pain physician to believe your story, we have some tips for you. Below, we showcase some ways to get your doctor to take you chronic pain seriously.

How To Have Your Pain Taken Seriously

The best advice we can give is to search for a physician who takes your word at face value. We understand that’s not always easy, but if you want to make it easier for your physician to understand your pain and take it seriously, consider these five tips.

1. Be Detailed – Be very detailed about your chronic pain and discomfort. Many patients find it helpful to keep a pain journal so that both the patient and provider can get a better idea of how pain has impacted you recently. Don’t just note how intense your pain is, document what makes it better or worse, what foods you ate and what activities you pursued that day so that the total picture becomes clearer.

2. Follow Through – If you’re not willing to do what the doctor recommends, they may assume that you’re embellishing your pain a bit. If you’re skipping your physical therapy sessions, not seeking out exercise or failing to change your diet, then your doctor may assume that you don’t take your condition seriously, so why should they?

3. Have Two-Way Conversations – You may be in a lot of pain, but if you just show up to the doctor’s office and expect them to figure out what’s going on and the best way to treat it on their own, you may end up frustrated with your care. If you want to be taken seriously and have a better chance of finding the right treatment for your pain, the conversation can’t just be one sided. You need to open up to your doctor, ask them questions and then converse with them when they have questions for you. Being helpful and engaged during your appointments shows that you are committed to helping find the right treatment.

4. Ask About Active Solutions – As we’ve said on the blog numerous time in the past, pain medications can play an important part in your treatment, but a doctor will be more receptive to your care if you show an interest in active treatments instead of passive treatments like opioids. When you ask what you can do to help manage your condition with active treatments, it showcases that you’re willing to put in the work and aren’t just looking for the easiest solution.

5. Come To Dr. Cohn – Finally, if you’re sick and tired of not having your pain condition taken seriously, connect with Dr. Cohn and his team. Pain is highly individualized, and we promise to give you the personalized attention you need to figure out what’s going on and the best way to treat it. We strive to go the extra mile for each one of our patients.

For more information, or for help with a specific pain condition, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today at (952) 738-4580.