by Joelle Steele
As I write this article, I am 69 years old, and I have been suffering from severe chronic pain in my neck, back, and hips since I was injured in a major automobile accident in 1980 at age 29. I had lots of physical therapy and also back surgery in 1984, but while it all helped a little, over the last fifteen years or so the pain has increased. My most recent MRI revealed that my spinal stenosis and general nerve damage are much worse, which account for the pain increase and worsening of the numbness in my feet than I have had in the past, and my right leg is now numb from the hip down. In other words, everything hurts 24/7.
And I am certainly not alone. Many well-known people suffer from severe pain: Kathleen Turner has rheumatoid arthritis; Sinead O’Connor, Morgan Freeman, and Lady Gaga have fibromyalgia; George Clooney injured his back and now has bolts in his spine; John F. Kennedy had chronic back pain; Dorothy Hammill suffers from osteoarthritis; Elizabeth Taylor had scoliosis and then broke her back and had five back surgeries; Jackie Chan damaged his spine and dislocated his hip; Paula Abdul has suffered chronic pain from an accident when she was a teenager; and Montel Williams has multiple sclerosis. This list could go on and on.
No one is exempt from injury and the pain that so often comes with it. And in most cases, no amount of money can fully relieve the pain. Drugs are not the best answer when it comes to managing pain. In fact, many pain medications become ineffective after awhile, many are addictive, and some have some pretty serious side effects that lead to conditions much worse than what they were treating in the first place.
Over the years, I have read sooooo many books on pain management. And, I have attended a wide variety of pain management clinics and seminars. I have learned a thing or two about managing pain. So, I decided to write up what I’ve learned, because in trying to solve my own pain issues, I have met many other people who are in the same boat as I am. And most of the celebrities I mentioned a couple paragraphs back have already discovered the same things I learned.
Some people may choose to do nothing to alleviate their pain and just blame the world for their sorry fate as they whine, cry, and in all ways embrace their pain and discomfort on the couch all day. Others, like me and some of the above-mentioned celebrities, take the proactive approach to managing pain. And you know what? I have seen that there are six things that can dramatically reduce pain for anyone, regardless of the original cause of their pain. This is not just my own little hare-brained opinion. It’s a medical fact. And this is not a pick-and-choose your favorite remedy, it is a combination of all six things. Pick one and work on it until you have it down, then go on to another and deal with it, and so on, until you learn to effectively manage your pain.
1. Avoid or drastically cut down on caffeine. Caffeine is an addictive substance that stimulates the central nervous system of your body. It makes you feel more awake, alert, and energetic, but if ingested heavily and regularly on a daily basis, it can also cause a wide range of problems as you cycle through the ups and downs of caffeine highs and withdrawals that it creates within your body. Among the symptoms that are manifested by caffeine intake are: headaches, muscle aches, fatigue, bone problems, nausea, diarrhea, acid reflux, irritability, confusion, blood pressure increases, and even fertility issues.
Caffeine is primarily found in soft drinks, coffee, tea, and chocolate. Coffee has the highest concentration of caffeine, with tea – iced tea in particular – coming in second. High levels of caffeine are frequently “hidden” in the ingredients of products, such as some chocolate yogurts or chocolate ice creams. The amount of caffeine in soft drinks varies considerably and some can contain almost as much as that found in coffee, so be sure to read the labels and try to gradually reduce your intake and/or switch to decaf.
2. Avoid or drastically cut down on sugar. Sugar, and simple carbohydrates that convert to sugars, increase the body’s insulin levels which is known to increase and/or cause pain in your organs and joints by triggering the body’s inflammatory immune response. Processed sugars are the worst, and using aspartame as a sugar substitute can also cause pain because it is an excitotoxin which activates neurons that increase pain sensitivity. Sugars can also cause or contribute to fatigue, sleep problems, irritability, and mood swings, not to mention diabetes, arthritis, certain cancers, and osteoporosis.
Like caffeine, sugar is in many products where you would not expect to find it. It’s found in potato chips, some peanut butters, crackers, breads, yogurt, and many condiments such as ketchup. And the simple carbs that convert to sugars include potatoes, white rice, and pasta. All of these hidden sugars add up, so one of the ways you can dramatically reduce their intake is to avoid processed foods as much as possible. This also provides the benefit of eliminating some of the additives that many experts believe are unsafe for human consumption, such as colorants and preservatives.
3. Avoid or drastically reduce alcohol consumption. This means beer, wine, and hard liquor. Many people who suffer from chronic pain turn to alcohol to relieve their symptoms. But this can create a very dangerous double-edged sword, because you might feel relaxed and happy after drinking, but in reality, all alcohols are depressants, so they really are not helping you at all, especially if you are also on prescription medications or are self-medicating with alcohol and drinking daily.
Alcohol can cause problems that ultimately adversely affect your pain levels because alcohol disrupts the sleep cycle. Yes, you sleep, but the quality of sleep is not optimum if you can’t stay asleep or if you don’t reach the point in the sleep cycle where your muscles all relax – a very important part of reducing muscle and joint pain in particular. This sleep deprivation leads to fatigue and irritability, both of which are contributors to pain in and of themselves. They exacerbate pain and reduce your ability to cope with pain.
4. Exercise daily. Daily exercise, even at low levels, can dramatically reduce pain levels. How this occurs has long been debated by scientists. Many have long believed that the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in your brain produce endorphins, your body’s natural pain relief chemicals. But other experts now believe that the exercise-related pain relief is due to a neurotransmitter called anandamide, which becomes elevated when you exercise. And still other experts believe that the pain relief from exercise is due to the release of serotonin and norepinephrine, which also reduce depression. Well, whatever the chemical reaction is in the brain, exercise is great for pain relief.
The easiest exercises are the low-impact ones such as walking, swimming, yoga, and tai chi. These are the most popular forms of exercise for people suffering from all kinds of pain. These forms of exercise reduce pain as they build strength, endurance, and coordination. Simply stretching periodically throughout the day can help as well. Gardening is a good exercise as it puts you in touch with nature and also exercises almost every muscle in your body, but as an avid gardener, I highly recommend starting out with the less strenuous activities, because gardening for even an hour can be quite a workout. Whatever exercise you do (and even when you’re not exercising), be sure to keep well-hydrated with water, because dehydration is a major contributor to pain.
5. Meditate daily. This is basically the power of positive thinking and relaxation. Do it three times a day for about 5 minutes each time. It really makes a difference. I always start the day with a short meditation, do it again mid-afternoon, and again a couple hours before I go to bed. Sit upright in a chair, fold your hands in your lap, tilt your head down slightly, and focus on your breathing. Breathe in and out slowly, counting to ten with each inhalation and exhalation. Do this for about a minute or so, and then you can start to send yourself positive messages and feelings of being pain free. You can think the words or speak them softly. Keep them positive. Don’t say, “I’m not in pain.” Say instead, “I feel great,” or “My body feels so relaxed,” or “I have so much energy.” You get the picture. You might want to reflect on a time when you were pain free and try to remember how that felt. Sometimes our pain levels are far more psychological than physical, perhaps because we spend so much time focused on our pain. Meditation helps us break down that psychological mechanism so that we can release at least some of our pain.
6. Keep busy. This is probably the single most important thing you can do to reduce your pain. Work or take up a serious hobby. These will distract you from the pain. This may seem like an impossible task when you don’t feel well, but part of pain relief is learning to shift your focus onto something that is bigger than your pain. And when you do, you will quickly discover that almost everything is bigger than your pain. In fact, every pain management clinic or seminar I ever attended, and every doctor I’ve ever consulted, has emphasized distraction through work and hobbies as the very first order of the day when it comes to pain management. And if you listen to people who have very severe pain, you will quickly learn that they are about the busiest people you will ever care to meet, and you would never know they were in pain because when they are busy, they don’t have time to even think about the pain. That’s me.
You simply have to find a way to get through your day in a way that does not involve laying around doing nothing because you don’t feel like doing anything. People who spend their days lounging around because they are in pain are far more likely to feel their pain more intensely and also to become prone to depression and addiction. Work that you enjoy and that does not cause you undue stress is a great distraction from pain. So is a good old-fashioned hobby. Spend at least four hours every day on your work or hobby. People who have serious pain issues find that they don’t react to their pain as much or at all when they are pursuing their work or favorite hobby. Many artists and musicians have discovered that their arthritis and the pain associated with it are greatly lessened when they are making art and music.
What do you do with the rest of your day? There are so many ways to distract yourself, but the main thing is to live your life, to enjoy your life. Take a walk in a park and revel in all of nature’s glory. Play games. Listen to music. Read books. Watch movies. Avoid TV as much as possible, particularly news channels that dwell on the disaster of the day. You don’t need to allow yourself to be depressed by news stations that broadcast negative news in order to make more money from their advertisers, many of which are pharmaceutical manufacturers. How depressing is all of that? We all have the ability to make ourselves feel so much better and to make our lives so much more worthwhile. Do you really want to feel unwell? Of course not! Remember that pain management is a process, not an event. Your pain won’t disappear overnight. But if you follow the above six steps all the time, you will find that within a matter of a few weeks you will begin to feel much improved. You may never get over your pain entirely. I sure haven’t. But you can reduce your symptoms and live a happier life. And that’s a lot better than laying around being miserable and wallowing in your pain.