If you’re like most chronic pain sufferers, you know the toll it can have on your everyday life. You want to meet friends after work for a drink, but by the end of the day, you are so tired you can’t do much more than head home to your couch or bed. You want to smile through the hours of soreness but often find yourself frowning instead. Your pain goes beyond the occasional back spasm or headache. When you have to deal with chronic pain every day, your life takes a new direction — and the road isn’t always a smooth one.
Helping Others Understand
Your friends and family see how much you are suffering and try to be supportive. But, let’s face it, they get frustrated too. After all, they want to spend quality time with you, and they hate seeing you suffer. On the other hand, you can’t take one more pep talk or advice from someone who can’t even begin to understand what you are going through. So how can you help them understand why you act the way you do? Explain, to the best of your ability, what your average day is like. Don’t sugarcoat things. Tell it like it is. Be honest enough to tell them what also drives you batty like telling you to think positive thoughts, trying to fix things, or pitying you.
Tips for Surviving Chronic Pain Today, Tomorrow and Next Week
No matter what degree your pain, if you suffer from a chronic condition, you need to find ways to deal with it. That isn’t always easy, especially when you yearn for your old life. But there is hope — and help. Here are a few tips to help you manage chronic pain in everyday life.
- Find Peace: It is true that your life is different now. That’s a fact. However, you can build a new life despite your pain. The key to surviving this roadblock is to find a detour. Sure, your life won’t look the same as it once did, but you can still find joy and contentment in your days.
- Think (and Live) Outside the Box: Chronic pain presents its sufferers with a multitude of challenges. Embrace those challenges and look for unique solutions. Maybe you can’t run that 5K this year, but maybe there is another way to be involved in the race.
- Practice Patience: Instead of falling victim to the sadness and depression that often follows chronic pain, practice patience — with yourself and those around you. You may be surprised at how much easier it is to manage that pain if you ease up on your expectations for yourself.
- Find Help Sources: From pain specialists to support groups, there are a lot of resources available to the chronic pain sufferer. Be sure to tap into these sources to help ease your suffering. The pain specialists at Capital City Neurosurgery are just one resource available to help you manage pain.
Chronic pain does more than make you hurt. It strips you of your identity, saps your body of energy, and leaves you feeling drained and lifeless. But it doesn’t have to remain that way. There is help available. Call the staff at Capital City Neurosurgery to find out what new innovative treatment techniques are available to help ease your chronic pain — and get back to living the life that you deserve.