Thursday, September 24, 2009

Learning to Manage Pain

By Andrejs Levi

Let's face it; pain can by all accounts have a drastic impact on the quality of your life, irrespective of whether the pain is caused by a severe injury or whether it's the result of an illness. The important thing is; we need to learn how to manage it and how to cope with it because it's a crucial part of human physiology in that it alerts us to the fact that something is wrong. Also, by learning how to manage pain and how to control it, you'll be better equipped in order to live your life. Admittedly learning to manage pain is certainly not an easy goal to accomplish but in the long run, it is something which is essential. Irrespective of whether you've recently been involved in a serious accident, or whether you've just undergone a major surgical procedure, there are a number of things you can do in order to manage the pain.

One of the first things you need to do with regards to managing pain is that you should be willing to educate yourself. In other words, you need to understand why you are experiencing pain and what is actually causing it. By having this level of understanding, you'll be in a better position to lessen the pain or even to prevent it altogether because the more you know about it, the more you'll be able to control it. The vast majority of people do admittedly know what's causing their pain but the problem arises because they fail to follow through to such a stage where they're able to arrive at a logical conclusion. The bottom line is; one can often find a great deal of relief simply by understanding what steps are necessary in order to mitigate the pain.

In terms of pain management, it's essential that you form an understanding relationship with your care giver, particularly if you're dealing with pain frequently. Bear in mind that it's your care giver that will be helping you on your road to recovery, so of course you should ideally be able to discuss things such as medication, both openly and freely. In fact, many people fail to realize just how important a good understanding is between them and their doctor in that without your cooperation, their hands are tied. As such, it's essential that you make a concerted effort to discuss your situation in detail with your care giver, and this includes discussing any treatment they prescribe or recommend.

As you've no doubt already heard in the past, when someone is in pain they need to breath and this is something which cannot be stressed enough. When a person experiences severe pain it is not uncommon for the body to freeze up which results in a feeling of breathlessness. This in turn can of course result in a sense of panic, and in order to regain control of your body you need to focus on your to breathing. In fact, this one simple technique can be invaluable with regards to getting through the worst moments.

Perhaps the most important thing of all with regards to managing pain is that you need to acknowledge the fact that it's not going to go away overnight. Unfortunately, you do get some people who expect to be free of pain virtually immediately, even though they may have recently broken a leg or an arm. Remember, patience is a virtue.

The best advice anyone could give you regarding pain management is that you take a little time out to consider how to manage it, and to what extent it can affect your life. - 14130

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