Tips For Preventing Pain Catastrophizing

Pain CatastrophizingChronic pain is challenging enough even when we attack the problem with a healthy mindset, and it only gets harder to manage if we catastrophize pain in our heads. Pain catastrophizing occurs when we overestimate the negative effects of pain and place significant focus on the presence of pain and the helplessness that can accompany a pain condition. Not only can pain catastrophizing make symptoms of chronic pain seem more intense, but it can also negatively affect your ability to overcome your pain condition.

With that in mind, we wanted to use today’s blog to share some tips for preventing pain catastrophizing and reducing pain’s impact on your psyche.

How To Avoid Pain Catastrophizing

Here are some tips to work towards a healthy mindset over your pain and prevent pain catastrophizing.

1. Control What You Can Control – This is a tip we’ve shared on the past when it comes to chronic pain care, but it can’t be understated. One of the most frustrating things about a chronic pain condition is the uncertainty that surrounds it. You never know when a flare up may occur and or whether tomorrow will be a good day or a bad day, but if you focus on controlling the controllable aspects of your life, you may find that it’s easier to manage pain in your mind. You may not be able to control every aspect of your day, but if you make positive strides in the modifiable areas of your life, you can take solace in knowing that you’ve done your part to gain control over your condition. Knowing that you’ve put in the work can help you avoid pain catastrophizing.

2. Understand What You’re Up Against – Misconceptions about your pain condition and your treatment can lead to pain catastrophizing. When you understand your condition and the best ways to manage symptoms and treat the underlying problem, you’re less likely to start catastrophizing.

3. Mindfulness, Meditation And Stress Relief – Studies have shown that stress can amplify pain sensations. When we’re stressed, not only can it lead to a pain flare up, but it can also lead to more intense pain sensations, and when this happens, it’s easier to start catastrophizing your pain. Instead, find a healthy way to manage stress and work to identify it and eliminate it from your life. Some people turn to exercise, others turn to mindfulness, while others turn to meditation or deep breathing techniques. Find a stress relief technique that works for you, and you can have a healthier mindset in regards to your pain condition.

4. Care For Your Mental Health – Finally, we oftentimes focus too intensely on the physical affects of a chronic pain condition. After all, pain is the most common and bothersome physical condition, but it’s important to remember that chronic pain affects our physical, mental and emotional health. There is a distinct possibility that your pain catastrophizing is connected to an underlying mental health issue like depression or anxiety that is being overlooked. Make sure that your chronic pain provider is willing to treat the totality of your pain condition, and that means understanding how pain impacts more than just your physical health.

Pain catastrophizing can be a significant hindrance to chronic pain treatment, so talk with your pain care provider if you believe that you could benefit from reframing your mental approach to pain care. For more information, or for help with a different aspect of chronic pain management, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.

Pain “Catastrophizing” Can Make Chronic Pain Worse

pain CatastrophizingChronic pain can be a cyclical battle that can be tough to break out of. Pain can leave you feeling discouraged, and this discouragement can have real world implications for your chronic pain treatment. In other words, unless you really focus on beating your chronic pain, it’s only going to get tougher to treat.

Don’t Let Pain Control Your Life

This sentiment was given credibility based on a recent study led by researchers at Penn State. For their study, researchers took a closer look at how people felt about their chronic pain condition and cross-referenced it with whether or not the were physically active later on in the day. In the study that focused on patients with knee osteoarthritis, researchers found that patients who “catastrophized” their pain (classified as feeling an exaggerated sense of helplessness or hopelessness) were less likely to be physically active later in the day. Moreover, this contributed to a domino effect of sedentary behavior followed by even more pain catastrophizing.

So while the results show that it can be hard to break free from chronic pain, it also shines a light on how we can best help patients with chronic pain conditions.

“Reducing daily pain catastrophizing may help  to be more active and less sedentary on a daily basis,” said Ruixue Zhaoyang, assistant research professor. “This could help improve their chronic pain condition, physical function, and overall health, and reduce the possibility of hospitalization, institutionalization, and healthcare costs in the long term.”

Nobody looks favorably on their chronic pain condition, but at the same time, if you’re constantly focusing on how the condition is negatively impacting your life, it can lead to pain catastrophizing. Researchers say patients who think that their pain is “terrible and never going away,” or those who say they “can’t stand their pain anymore” may be catastrophizing their condition and subliminally decreasing their likelihood of pursuing active treatment solutions, like exercise and physical therapy.

So if you are struggling with your chronic pain condition, really take a hard look at how you’re viewing your pain condition in your head. Are you constantly negative about your pain, and do you shy away from activity when you’re frustrated by your pain. If so, you’re not alone, and you should know that solutions are right around the corner. We can help change the way you think about your pain condition so you’re more likely to follow through on proven active treatments to help with your condition. For more information, or to learn more about how we can help treat the physical and mental aspects of chronic pain, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.

Pain Catastrophizing and Chronic Pain Care

Pain CatastrophizingWhen it comes to managing chronic pain, it’s imperative to take as much care of your mental health as it is your physical health. Ignoring your mental health can lead to more negative attitudes towards your pain, which can lead to even more problems according to a new study.

A new report out of the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that individuals who negatively fixate on their symptoms have been found to report greater pain intensity and are more likely to be prescribed opioids. Interestingly, the association was much higher in females than it was in men.

“When it comes to opioid prescriptions, pain catastrophizing has a greater effect on the likelihood for having a prescription in women than it does in men,” said medical student and lead researcher Yasamin Sharifzadeh.

Pain Catastrophizing

According to researchers, “pain catastrophizing” is defined as the cascade of negative thoughts and emotions in response to actual or anticipated pain. When you begin to let these negative thoughts continue to build and take hold over your pain, it can actually amplify the pain process and lead to greater pain and increased disability. Previous studies have shown that pain catastrophizing has been linked to increased pain sensations, but this is the first study to find a correlation between it and an increased likelihood of being prescribed opioids.

For their research, Sharifzadeh and her team analyzed clinical data from more than 1,800 patients with chronic pain. After analyzing the data and parsing out the results between genders, researchers came to an interesting conclusion.

“In men, it is pain intensity that dictates whether or not they are prescribed opioids,” Sharifzadeh said. “However, in women, there is a more nuanced issue where relatively low levels of both pain catastrophizing and pain intensity are associated with opioid prescription. Pain catastrophizing and pain intensity are working together in determining if a woman has an opioid prescription.”

This is especially problematic when you consider that women are more likely to suffer from chronic pain, be prescribed pain relievers and given higher doses for longer periods than men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, by recognizing this correlation, doctors can help to mitigate this risk.

“If physicians are aware of these gender-specific differences, they can tailor their treatment,” Sharifzadeh said. “When treating chronic pain patients — especially women — they should analyze pain in its psychological aspect as well as its physical aspect.”

If you feel like your mental health is fighting a losing battle with chronic pain, reach out to your doctor. Contact Dr. Cohn today.