Dr. Paras

If you suffer from chronic pain of any kind, it is important for you to know that it is associated and linked with your emotions. Other than your physical activities and personal relationships getting hampered, unwanted feelings like resentment, stress and frustration are also common. These emotions and feelings are capable of making your chronic pain condition more worse. 

The Relationship between your mind and body: Your mind and body work together and cannot be separated. Your mind controls all your thoughts and also affects the way in which pain is controlled or perceived by the body. Pain and the fear of pain may lead you to avoid activities. This may reduce your physical strength and cause disruption in the functioning of your body.

Stress: Stress affects your body both physically and emotionally. It may lead to an increase in your blood pressure, breathing rate, heart rate and muscle tension may also occur. These may lead to fatigue, appetite changes and sleep disruption. Stress also causes depression, anxiety, make you dependent on drugs and make you dependent on other people.

Depression: Depression is common among chronic pain patients. Chronic pain can make cases of existing depression much more worse and the existing pain is also worsened. There are chances of developing depression from chronic pain if depression runs in your family or genes. 

Symptoms of Depression are as follows:

1. Feeling sad, angry, worthless and hopeless frequently
2. Lack of energy
3. Lack of interest in regular activities
4. Difficulty in sleeping
5. An increase or decrease in appetite, which may lead to major weight gain or weight loss
6. Difficulty with concentration
7. Having suicidal thoughts and thoughts about dying or harming oneself

How to Handle your Emotions during Chronic Pain: A common therapy, which people with chronic pain undertake is called Cognitive Behavioural therapy. You should seek the help of a therapist. In this therapy, you will learn about thinking in a positive way instead of drowning in negative thoughts. Your fear of pain will be reduced and you will learn how to strengthen important relationships. You will be able to develop a sense of freedom from chronic pain. 

If your chronic pain occurs due to an accident or emotional trauma, you may be assessed for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by your healthcare provider. Many patients suffering from PTSD cannot deal with their pain until the emotional stress is dealt with. If you feel depressed and cannot control your emotions, you need to consult a doctor. If you wish to discuss any specific problem, you can consult a pain management specialist.

Heat and cold are some of the most common types of non-addictive pain relief therapies for treating muscle and joint pain. Depending on whether the pain is a new one or a recurring one, a medical practitioner will prescribe either heat therapy or cold therapy. A new injury causes inflammation and swelling. Here cold therapy is used as the ice will lower the amount of blood flow to the injured area, thus reducing the inflammation and swelling. Recurring pain can be treated with heat. This is because heat will cause blood to flow towards the injured area and thus promote healing.

Heat Therapy: Heat is used to open up blood vessels, thus increasing blood flow and supplying oxygen and nutrients so as to reduce pain in joints and help relax sore muscles, tendons and ligaments. The warmth of the heat also helps to decrease muscle spasms and can increase the range of motion. By applying superficial heat to your body, you can also improve the flexibility of tendons, reduce muscle spasms and reduce pain.

Most sources of heat either supply dry or moist warmth. Dry heat sources will dry the skin. Moist heat helps to penetrate even better. Heat can be applied by using an electric or microwave heating pad, gel packs or hot water baths. The heat supplied should be warm, not be too hot and should be kept at a consistent temperature. Consult your doctor or physical therapist about the heat source, which would be best for you.

Heat should be applied if one has stiff joints or joint pain. Never apply heat directly to the skin, instead always trap the hot device in a thin towel.

Cold Therapy: Cold slows down or reduces the blood flow to an injured area, thus reducing pain and swelling of the area. Cold therapy slows blood circulation, reducing inflammation. It should be used when the area is swollen or bruised. Cold is generally applied by an ice or gel pack.

Any cold treatment should always be used 24 to 48 hours after an injury. Cold therapy is useful for sprains, bumps and bruises that may occur during sports or lifting. You can apply the cold packs or ice bags to the injured areas for 20 minutes. It is advisable to remove the cold pack for a ten minute interval and then apply it again to the injured area.

While using cold therapy, use the ice pack for not longer than 20 minutes at a stretch. Wrap the ice or ice pack in a thin towel before applying it on the injured area. Do not use ice pack on the left shoulder in case you have a heart condition. Never use ice packs around the front or side of the neck region. Both cold and heat therapy are important and their usage depends on the type of injury and pain. If you wish to discuss any specific problem, you can consult a physiotherapist.

Physiotherapy is an effective way to reduce various kinds of body pains. Physiotherapy includes massages, exercises, and heat treatments to relieve pain. This treatment is often recommended as the first option to treat back and neck pain. Physiotherapy is also used to rehabilitate patients after surgery. Different kinds of exercises included in this treatment are also useful to treat sports injuries. Here are some steps that you can take to relieve your body pain incorporating physiotherapy.

• Get appropriate help - It is important to properly diagnose your condition before going for physical therapy. Seek help from a professional and if he/she recommends physiotherapy then only opt for the treatment.
• Reduce your severe pain before exercising - If you are in immense pain, work to alleviate the pain before engaging in exercises. Cold/ hot therapy, massage, manual manipulation are some of the methods that can slowly reduce the pain. These are all part of physical therapy.
• Exercise - Exercising has numerous health benefits including relieving back pain. As you age, your back tends to get weaker; it is important to workout to prevent future backaches. Stretching, strengthening and low- impact aerobics are ideal for this issue.
• You can also try water therapy as water has a therapeutic effect on pain and makes your movements much easier than on land.
• Observe your body's reaction to physical therapy - When you have just had a back or neck pain episode and try physical therapy you will feel some initial discomfort, it is expected. After you acclimatize yourself with the routine all kinds of pain will gradually diminish. The initial pain due to physiotherapy is caused because your muscles are stiff and they are being stretched the way they are not used to. However if the pain gradually increases you are probably not right for that particular kind of physical therapy.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!