Anyone who has ever dealt with chronic pain and trying to ease the symptoms knows just how frustrating it can be. Chronic pain can be life altering and many times trying to find the right treatment is challenging. Fortunately there are many treatments that will deal with not only the physical aspect of the pain, but the psychological aspects as well. Read on for some of the most commonly used methods for dealing with the pain.
Initial Treatment
If you have pain that's lasted for longer than two to three months, it's become chronic and you need to seek medical help. An underlying condition may be causing the pain, such as arthritis, back injury, other muscle or bone injuries. This constant pain can also cause depression. You doctor will ask you about your medical history and any potential injury. The treatment prescribed will depend on how severe your pain is, and to what your pain is related. It often takes a combination of pain therapies to solve the problem.
You may also be referred to a licensed mental health counselor. It's not unusual for the patient to become depressed and frustrated as well as angry. When feeling this way, it makes it even harder to control the pain and the pain might become worse. A counselor will be able to help you figure out ways to manage the condition from an emotional perspective.
Physical and Occupational Therapy
Physical therapy focuses on reconditioning the areas of the body that are weakened and causing pain. This therapy focuses on educating the patient, as well as reconditioning the body through various exercises. Heat and ice packs are also used to help reduce the pain in the affected areas. This type of therapy is generally ongoing and may take weeks or several months to accomplish.
Occupational therapy focuses on use body mechanics properly. This therapy helps the patient to complete normal day to day activities without suffering pain. Patients with back problems learn such things as the proper way to bend and lift, for example. As with physical therapy, this is also an ongoing therapy that may take weeks or months to accomplish.
Medication Management
Managing chronic pain with medications generally requires a combination of various drugs combined with other therapies. Anti-inflammatory drugs decrease pain as well as inflammation. Antidepressants treat the psychological problems associated with having to deal with chronic pain. Pain medications are also used to relieve the pain temporarily. Be cautious when using pain medications for a long period of time as they can become addictive.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is beneficial to some people suffering chronic pain. In this treatment, electrical currents are applied to the affected areas through electrodes placed directly on the affected areas. The patient feels a tingling in the area, without tensing any muscles, as the nerves are stimulated. TENS can be used daily in 20 minute to 2 hours intervals, or as needed. Timing and intensity of the current will depend on the response of each individual patient. This therapy is done at home once the method has been taught to the patient.
Surgery
If an injury has occurred to the bone or muscle, surgery is sometimes the only answer to alleviating the pain. Once the affected areas are repaired, the pain may become less or disappear.
If the pain is caused by damage to the nerves, surgery can be performed that disrupts the injured nerve's pain signals. The nerve's pathway is either frozen or burned, hindering it from sending the signal of pain throughout the body. This type of surgery is usually used for nerve damage and pain associated in the facial area.
Other Treatments
Acupuncture has been used for centuries as a medical treatment and helps many people suffering chronic pain. Though researchers still don't fully understand how it works, the benefits to some pain sufferers can't be denied. The treatment involves tiny needles being placed in the affected areas for a certain length of time and then removed. Frequency of the treatment depends on each patient's condition and how they respond.
Other treatment methods such as hypnosis, biofeedback and relaxation techniques focus on the mental aspect of the pain. The patient learns to control and cope with the pain by redirecting focus and attention. The thought is, the more distracted a person is from the pain, the less debilitating it will be.
Considerations
Chronic pain not only affects you, but everyone involved in your life. All parties should understand the course of treatment and the many therapies to treat the pain. A proper course of treatment will more than likely involve several methods. Seeing results from any treatment method may take some time.
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