Stress And Chronic Pain And What You Can Do About It
Stress is often one of the factors that can make chronic pain worse. However, when you have chronic pain, it's harder to manage your stress levels, because the pain itself can contribute to the stress. If you actively work to reduce your stress, however, you could find that your chronic pain is easier to manage. Here are some tips for helping to reduce stress for pain management.
1. Get regular massages
Massages are one of the best ways to help with both stress and chronic pain. Stress causes muscle tension, which aggravates conditions that cause chronic pain. When you get a massage, you work out the tension in those muscles, which brings down your pain level. Massage also reduces stress, allowing you to fully relax. If you get a massage regularly, you could see the benefits in both your stress level and your pain level.
Massage also helps your body heal from constant stress. It increases blood flow to your muscles, which can speed healing.
2. Meditate
Spend some time each day in meditation. You can practice deep breathing techniques, visualization, and relaxation. Many meditative exercises require you to focus your mind on slowly relaxing each part of your body. Deep breathing sends healing oxygen into your body, and the relaxation helps you to relieve muscle tension. Some types of mediation include gentle yoga, which requires rhythmic deep breaths, self-hypnosis, which helps you with pain management by providing a deep-thinking experience where you concentrate on other things, and mindfulness, which concentrates on the heart rate and the breathing, and you do not allow your thoughts to wander.
All meditations should focus on positivity. As you meditate regularly, you can find a way to escape pain and to relax. You can also feel more refreshed and gain positive energy that will help you manage stressful situations more calmly.
3. Go for a walk
Physical activity is very helpful for reducing stress, but when you are in pain, you might not feel much like working out. However, you can still enjoy walking. Try to walk in green space, because exposure to green nature can help reduce stress levels as well. Walk just fast enough to raise your heart rate, and spend time focusing on breathing deeply as you. As your fitness levels increase, your resting stress level will go down, which will, in turn, help you manage your pain more easily.
For more information, contact a professional like Chris Teeple Muscle Specialist.