Self-Management Techniques
Types of Self-Managed Techniques for Pain Treatment
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- Relaxation
- Anxiety, tension and stress can make the cycle of pain worse. Relaxation techniques can help to break this cycle.
- Techniques include deep breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, visualisation and the ‘stress ball’. These techniques can be very powerful and give back control to the patient.
- They all take less than 5 minutes to perform and can be repeated as often as required.
- Pacing
- Patients with long term pain conditions often have good and bad days. When it’s bad, normal daily activities such as shopping or meeting friends can become obstacles.
- Pacing aims to break up any activity into smaller, more manageable steps. These allow patients to reach their goals using reasonable bite-sized steps to get there.
- Goal Setting
- We encourage patients to set realistic goals on their journey of rehabilitation. Such goals are often set in conjunction with our Clinicians and Physiotherapists.
- Exersize
- We encourage patients to exercise gently as part of their rehabilitation.
- Exercise programmes are initiated by our physiotherapists and includes gentle mobilisation of the affected body part, aerobic stamina and core stability work.
- Coping with flare-ups
- From time to time, patients experience periods of increased pain or flare-ups. Ways to cope with these include: recognition, take medication regularly, re-set goals as appropriate, think positively, use relaxation and breathing exercises, and seek medical help if persistent.
- Better Sleep
- Patients with pain often have disrupted sleep. There are a number of simple steps to improving ‘sleep hygiene’.
- Attention to the sleep environment:
- Black-out curtains
- Removal of extraneous noise
- Relaxation techniques before bedtime
- Eliminating alcohol, caffeine and stimulant intake 4 hours before bed.
- These are often more successful than the use of medication to aid sleep.
- Managing Stress
- Stress is a normal part of everyday life. Short term stress can help us complete our tasks and activities, but when this becomes chronic, it can be detrimental to health.
- Pain is associated with increased anxiety, depression and stress. The first step is to identify those situations that exacerbate stress and developing strategies to manage these.
- Medication Management
- Understanding the aims and roles of medication is the first step to taking control. When and how to use them optimally and when to use other techniques is essential.
You can find useful links to further information on all aspects of pain treatment in links and resources and via the list of conditions we treat.
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