Whenever you’re trying to apply a treatment method to manage your chronic pain, it is essential to understand how to apply techniques such as focus and deep breathing techniques in order to calm the body. It takes time and effort to learn how to relax, especially while one is experiencing chronic pain. It is to one’s advantage to be able to relax muscles all throughout the body and begin to divert attention away from the source of the discomfort.
The first step in managing chronic pain resources is to practice regulated, deep breathing using strategies such as positioning oneself in a comfortable, reclining posture in a dimly lit environment and either shutting both eyes or focusing on a single location. The second step is to reduce the rate of your breaths, focus on taking deep breaths, and make use of your chest and not necessarily your abdomen. If you find yourself distracted, it might be good to think of a phrase, such as ‘relax,’ that will help you gain concentration and manage your breathing. Repetition of the syllable “re” while taking a breath in and the syllable “lax” while taking a breath out is one way to carry out this procedure. After then, proceed with about two to three minutes of regulated breathing. Once one has acquired a state of relaxation and is able to concentrate, visualization methods can be utilized.
The control techniques listed in this post for chronic pain management are mental models of chronic pain relief. They will facilitate a quick recovery even when combine with some other Chronic pain treatment methods such as surgery or the use of pain relief drugs, medical cannabis, or CBD oil. They can also help you to reduce the intensity of your chronic pain symptoms when adopted.
The following is a list of some imagery and chronic pain control approaches that have been shown to be useful for chronic pain management:
- Shifting Focus: This is a popular method for illustrating how significantly one’s state of mind may influence the feelings experienced in one’s body. The process of adjusting focus entails concentrating one’s attention on a particular area of the body that is not experiencing pain and then modifying the sensations experienced in that area of the body. Consider, for instance, the hand getting more comfortable, this method distracts the mind from concentrating on the location of the discomfort, which may be in the back of the neck.
- Dissociation: This strategy for managing chronic pain includes mentally isolating the painful body part from the rest of the body, or picturing the body and mind as being separate, with the chronic pain being far away from one’s mind. The name of the technique gives an indication of what the technique entails. Imagine, for instance, that the soreness in the lower back is sitting on a chair on the other side of the room and that you are asking it to remain seated there, far away from the mind.
- The separation of the senses: This method entails breaking the unpleasant experience into its component pieces, such as the burning, the pain, and the pins and needles. For instance, if the pain in the leg or the back feels hot, the feeling of the heat is what the attention is focused upon and not on the sensation of hurting.
- Putting one’s mind to sleep: Imagine that a numbing anesthetic is being injected into the painful location – which is one technique for relieving pain. Imagine, for instance, that a treatment for numbing the lower back is being injected into you. Similarly, visualizing a calming and cold ice pack being applied to the sore spot will help diminish the sensation of pain experienced in that area.
- Mental analgesia: This method expands on the notion of mental anaesthesia and includes visualizing an injection of a potent pain reliever, such as morphine, into the painful spot. Morphine is an example of this type of pain reliever. Imagine the brain releasing a large quantity of endorphins, which are the natural substances that the body produces to relieve pain, and having that material go to the parts that are in pain.
- Transfer. Putting a hand that is not painful in a place that is painful and using one’s thoughts to induce changed sensations in that hand, such as heat, cold, or anesthesia, and then placing that hand on the part that is painful. The idea is that this pleasant, changed sensation will subsequently be conveyed to the hurting location.
- Age regression and progression: Using the power of one’s imagination to project oneself forwards or backward in time to a condition of having no pain or significantly reduced suffering. The next step is to give oneself instructions to behave “as if” this vision were real.
- The Use of Symbolic Objects: Imagine a sign that captures the essence of your persistent suffering, such as a loud grating noise or a light bulb that is excruciatingly bright. The discomfort can be alleviated by gradually lessening the aspects of this sign that irritate the user, such as turning down the level of the noise or turning down the brightness of the light.
- Imagining pleasant things. You may achieve a carefree, secure, and calm mood by directing your attention on a nice location, such as the beach or the mountains, for example, where such a feeling can be obtained.
- Counting. Counting in your head is a helpful distraction technique for dealing with uncomfortable bouts. Counting can involve merely conjuring up mental images and counting them, counting the number of breaths, counting the number of floor tiles, or counting the number of holes in an acoustic ceiling.
- Pain Movement. Shifting the chronic pain from one place of your body to another, where it will be simpler for you to deal with it, like in the case of your back. For instance, mentally shifting the pain from your chronic back or neck onto your hand, or even out of your hand and into the air.
It is recommended that at least some of these approaches be acquired with the assistance of a trained expert, and it is common knowledge that it takes practise for these strategies to become successful in aiding in the reduction of chronic pain. It is frequently recommended to focus on chronic pain management techniques for around half an hour, three times each week. The ability to relax deeply and maintain control over chronic pain may be strengthened and improved with regular practice.
After mastering these strategies, obtaining relief from chronic pain and relaxation can be accomplished with as little as a few slow, deep breaths. These methods may then be utilised while engaging in any activity, including working, conversing, or any other activity. When one has sufficient prior experience, they are able to have a stronger feeling of control over the chronic pain and its consequences on life.
You should book a consultation session with professionals at Chronic Therapy to discuss the discomfort you’re having and for professional advice.