5 strategies make pain management easier

Years of experience with patients suffering from chronic pain have revealed that the following strategies yield the greatest benefits for reducing pain and maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle:

Get regular aerobic exercise. Less physically active people experience more pain due to weakening of muscles and the tissue around the joints and spine. The body is made to move, and when it doesn’t, it suffers. Exercise such as walking 30 minutes daily is a simple way to improve this.

Manage your weight. Most chronic pain patients report that pain increases or decreases with their weight. In addition to the physical strain that extra weight places on the body, fat cells release chemicals that cause inflammation and contribute to discomfort. Shedding fat and maintaining a healthy weight are essential to pain management.

Use ice, not heat. Putting heat on a painful area results in dilation of blood vessels, increased blood supply and other fluids in the tissues, resulting in redness and swelling. This causes pressure and irritation of the nerves in those tissues. Conversely, putting ice on tissues causes blood vessels to constrict resulting in decreased blood flow and drawing fluids out of the tissues leaving more room for nerves to function normally. Applying an ice pack for 15-30 minutes twice daily to an area of pain can provide significant relief.

Take over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications. When pain interferes with daily activities or sleep OTC pain medications can help. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen are a safe option if there is no history of stomach ulcers or kidney problems. Acetaminophen is also safe when taken per package directions in the absence of heavy alcohol use or liver disease. It can be particularly effective to alternate these two medications taking two tablets of ibuprofen in the morning followed by two tablets of acetaminophen every 4-6 hours during the day as needed for pain flares, and two ibuprofen again at bedtime. This provides the benefits of both medications while avoiding the risks of high doses.

Practice redemptive suffering. Accept suffering as a part of life and unite it with the sufferings of Christ. Suffering is inevitable. As our Lord Jesus Christ attested, “In the world you will have suffering. But take heart! I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) Scripture and the lives of the saints provide us with many examples of how to cope with our sufferings. One of my favorites is in Colossians, where St. Paul states, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the Church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col 1:24).

LESLIE MASSOGLIA, M.D., is a family physician with over 20 years’ experience treating patients with chronic pain and addiction in the office, correctional institutions, and hospice and palliative care settings. A member of the Catholic Medical Association, she practices in Eagan, MN.