Chronic Pain Care & Management

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NOTE: Content is not a substitute for treatment or therapy, and as always, please consult with your healthcare provider.

If you have chronic pain it can be an emotional struggle as well as a physical one.

In my work with chronic pain patients, one treatment approach I use includes solution-focused interventions rooted in mindfulness. Instead of thinking ‘why me’, look at the situation from a ‘what now, how will I deal with this’ perspective.  A new mindset can make the situation less stressful, and if you are less anxious, your body will cope with the pain better.


Learn To Relax

Pain occurs to warn you that there is something wrong with your body. It is often in the muscles, but can occur in other parts of the body as well- such as the nerves. If your body is tense the pain could be worse, but learning to relax can aid in lessening the effects of it.

Calming your body down is the objective, and you have to find the best method of relaxing your muscles that suits you and helps to improve your well-being. Some people are lucky enough just to be able to sit back and it happens naturally, where others will have to do progressive muscle relaxing for it to work.

Rest

Some people with painful conditions feel exhausted throughout the day, but may find it difficult to rest due to the high demands of living in today’s society. However, rest is a key factor in proper recovery, so making sure that you listen to your body and try to incorporate rest breaks throughout your day will aid in rejuvenating your body, and could reduce some pain related symptoms.

Don’t Overdo It

If your chronic pain is a bit easier after a few days of rest and relaxation, don’t suddenly try to do everything you normally would. Overdoing it can delay your recovery so even if you are feeling better, take it easy for a while longer. Perhaps doing light tasks can suffice, but keep them simple or you could be back at square one.

Eat Foods That Are Anti-Inflammatory

There are some foods and herbs such as turmeric, oily fish, red fruits and vegetables, and leafy greens that have anti-inflammatory properties. Carrots, squash, watermelon, and peaches are all additions to your diet that could help.

Seek Help from a Medical Professional

There is help available if you’re experiencing in chronic pain. Your healthcare provider is a first step in treatment, or you can visit a specialist- like a chiropractor or physical therapist. Moreover, depending on the type of pain you’re experiencing, you could also try acupuncture or massage therapy.

Another alternative medical approach uses feedback modalities- such as Neurofeedback or Biofeedback. These non-invasive treatment therapies help teach you how to control your own physiology, and in many cases, can reduce pain symptoms in the back, neck, nerves and other areas.

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Headaches: Causation, Treatment & Prevention

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While the science behind headaches stems from a biochemical disorder, psychological influences can play a key role in the onset or maintenance of a headache. Research has shown that there is a comorbidity between psychiatric symptoms and headaches, particularly that of anxiety and depression. Due to biopsychosocial factors, headaches can have serious influences on a person's overall quality of life. In this post, we are going to take a look at the causation of headaches and ways you can treat/prevent them.

Primary Headaches

There are 2 types of headaches that a person can experience- primary or secondary. Primary headaches happen when there is an issue with the pain sensitivity structures or they go into overdrive. Nerve or blood vessels around the skull, head or neck muscles, or chemical activation in the brain can all play a role. One of the most common types of primary headaches is a migraine.

Migraine

Symptoms can cause intense pain or throbbing typically on one side of the head. While the verdict is still out on the causation, researchers believe that the causation is related to unstable nerve cells that overreact to different triggers. These triggers can include...

  • Issues with sleep

  • Depression, Anxiety or Stress

  • Hormonal changes in the body (including PMS)

  • Fatigue or hunger

  • Alcohol Use or caffeine withdrawal

  • Bodily strain related to posture

Secondary Headaches

These headaches are typically related to a secondary cause, such as a medical condition. These can include...

  • Head Injury (such as a concussion)

  • Infection

  • Overuse of medication

  • Congestion of the sinuses

  • Tumor

  • now COVID-19

Treatment of Headaches

As there are many ways to treat a headache, I will touch on a few common and not-so-common treatments.

Over-the-counter

Anti-inflammatory medications (such as Aspirin or ibuprofen) and acetaminophens (i.e., Tylenol) are what many individuals use for pain relief. These medications either block the production of chemicals that cause inflammation or elevate pain thresholds to relieve pain and reduce fevers (in the case of acetaminophens). If you see a primary care provider or specialist, they may recommend other types of medications which call for a prescription.

As we stated before, because there is a psychological aspect that can onset headaches, there are other forms of treatment that don't require medication (but an appointment with a psychologist or therapist). These include...

Stress management

Using learning relaxation techniques- such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation to manage stress which can reduce headaches. Additionally, Cognitive Behavior Therapy can teach coping skills to manage pain.

Acupuncture

Some research shows acupuncture to be effective in the treatment of headaches by restoring the flow of energy in the body and removing negative energy related to pain by dividing the body into zones and pressure points (typically near the nerves).

Feedback Treatment

Biofeedback is a common modality used in headache treatment. It involves sensors placed on different parts of the body that monitor physiological changes in the body (including muscle stress, heart/ respiratory rate and skin conductance). In turn, instant feedback is provided to the specialist who helps teach the individual how to gain control of these bodily processes.

Additionally, neurofeedback is another feedback modality where sensors are connected to the head to determine neural activity levels in specific brain areas. This information is relayed in real-time, and the specialist provides techniques to teach the individual ways to control brain activity responses.

These feedback modalities can decrease psychiatric symptoms like stress or anxiety, reduce pain and muscle tension, as well as strengthen brain activity.

Headache Prevention

As we've discussed, there are many things that can cause a headache and while some of these may be out of our control, there are still preventative steps that you can take to either reduce some of the characteristics of headaches (duration, intensity, frequency). These include...

  • Diet changes & increase water intake

  • Healthy sleep regimen

  • Reducing stress

  • Seeking Therapy to decrease psychiatric symptoms

  • Increasing opportunities for self-care

  • Talking with your doctor


As always, this post is only to provide general information. Please consult with your provider regarding treatment for your specific needs.

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Improve Your Study Skills w/ These Tips!

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If you are looking to improve yourself, you may find that dedicating a bit of time every evening to study is the best way to go in the right direction. However, there are so many different influences that can impact your ability to focus. Perhaps you're not sleeping so well, or you are feeling stressed. But when it comes to studying, there are a few simple hacks that you can take advantage of to ensure that you are focused on the task at hand.

Stimulating The Brain

There are so many ways you can do this, from reading out loud to neurofeedback therapy. Neurofeedback is a behavioral therapeutic modality that works from an operant-conditioning framework (think of B.F. Skinner’s box or ABA in Autism). It provides feedback in real-time, teaching individuals to regulate neurophysiological responses, which ultimately helps improve functionality.

There are so many ways to stimulate the brain (not just in terms of the ordinary things), but by digging deep to bring aspects of your mind out that you didn't even know you had. Neuroplasticity is being discussed more because we used to think that our brains were predetermined, that they were a certain size and that we could only learn so much. But now by stimulating the mind you can do so much more than what you are capable of, and even if you're not ready to go for something like neurofeedback you could try binaural beats. In fact, there are plenty of these online.

The Feynman Technique

We tend to cram lots of information into our brains, and as a result, we end up trying to memorize things rather than to learn them. Much like when we are trying to remember things before an exam, but this isn't very effective at all. Instead, the Feynman Technique is all about explaining it to someone who doesn't have a concept of what it is, like a young child. A lot of people tend to relay information without letting it sink in. If you can't explain it, you won't be able to understand it. By doing this, you are ready to consolidate (bring on the hippocampus) information in your brain so that it's not overly complicated.

Minimize Distractions And Improve Focus

One of the main problems we all have these days is that there are too many distractions around. By minimizing these distractions, especially if you sit at a desk with your smartphone in your periphery, you will work a lot better. It's something that we can all benefit from. Because the internet is right there, we've got to take advantage of the many blockers to stop surfing the web. By learning to increase our productivity, we can find ways to focus better. Focusing on the task at hand means minimizing distractions but also finding ways to focus on the information appropriately. Because we, as individuals, can get overwhelmed by the task at hand, we need to figure out how to focus on one thing at a time. This is crucial when we are looking to study because if we are overwhelmed by the prospect of learning a language, that is what will loom large in our brains. Focus on one thing at a time, and it becomes a lot easier for us all to digest.

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