Although we are already in the month of love, 2021 is still pretty fresh. And as we embark into this new month, and another journey around the sun, now is the best time to take control of your health.
So if you didn’t make any changes in January, it’s not too late.
That said, this article will explore three lifestyle changes you can make to help reduce your chronic pain.
Lifestyle Changes that Can Help with Pain Management
Poor lifestyle equals poor health, and poor health means worse chronic pain.
Any efforts you make this year to improve your lifestyle have the potential to not only promote chronic pain management, but also improve your overall wellbeing.
If you have no idea where to start, then here are five lifestyle changes that will help with chronic pain management:
1. Get Enough Sleep Every Night
Although sleep and pain have a bidirectional relationship, the effect of sleep on pain has been proven stronger than that of pain on sleep. What this simply means is that the less sleep you get, the higher your sensitivity to pain.
This is essentially because not getting enough sleep causes fatigue and irritation. These two only increase your perception of pain.
Sleeping enough on the other hand, has been proven to help with chronic pain. So, if you haven’t been getting your eight hours of sleep, you should make hitting the sack and getting your 40 winks a priority from now henceforth.
We know it can be hard to get sleep when you live with chronic pain, but there are things you can do to improve your sleep.
2. Eat Healthy
As cliché as it may sound, you are actually what you eat. For instance, if your diet is made up of processed foods with added sugar, your chronic pain will only get worse. This is because sugar tends to increase inflammation, which is the number one cause of chronic pain.
Switching your diet to healthy food options such as fruits and veggies goes a long way in easing your chronic pain. This is because such a diet facilitates weight loss, and a healthy weight means less stress on your joints, and other areas affected by chronic pain. That in turn means relief. Also, healthy foods pack vitamins and other nutrients that help combat inflammation.
So, if you’re struggling with chronic pain, now is the time to change your diet and include healthier options. Try to eat food in its natural state because that’s how you get it into your body in its most nutritious form.
3. Move a lot more
Exercise helps relieve chronic pain in several ways. First, it helps build up muscles surrounding the affected joints. This in turn stabilizes the affected joints, and promotes lubrication. Also, when you move more, your blood circulation improves, which means more nutrients get to your cartilage. This reduces the degradation of important joint fluid, and as a result, significantly eases your pain.
When living with chronic pain, exercising can sound daunting but note, you don’t have to wake up at three to jog. Exercising and moving more could mean something as simple as taking the stairs instead of an elevator, walking your dog instead of paying a dog sitter or even playing with your kids.
In other words, ensure you’ve moved at least once a day and increase the intensity as time goes. This will significantly ease your chronic pain, and even enable you to manage your weight.
Take Treatment Seriously
The above lifestyle changes will go a long way in helping you reduce chronic pain but to ensure you’re on the right track, make pain management treatment an important part of your life. Go for checkups at least once a month, and find a reliable pain management center like Maryland Primary Care and Wellness.