Pain management tips for the festive season

Written By Jasmine Anderson

Managing pain can be tricky and when looking for advice it is important to remember that it should be personalised to you. This means it is essential to have awareness of your needs and body. For example, some pain flares might need exercise or stretching while some flares might need rest and rejuvenation and doing the wrong one could cause more of a flare. So then, how do you know what you need? Trust me when I say you know better than anyone it just needs some listening to our little voice or that gut feeling.

 

Breathe

Once you feel a flare coming on breathe deeply into your belly. Long and slow breathing will begin to calm the nervous system, reducing stress and bringing clarity. It will also help bring mindfulness because it will calm the chatter in the brain.

·       Breathe into chest, side ribs and belly for 4 seconds

·       Breathe out from the belly, side ribs and chest for 4 seconds

You can slowly increase the time of breathing in and out as you release tension and your muscles relax.

 

Mindfulness brings Awareness

Taking time to practice mindfulness helps bring awareness around what you need. Mindfulness can be practiced through meditation or actively meditating on your emotions and feelings (eg. Journalling). A good example of this around the festive season is taking some time to recognise what brings us joy around the holiday time. Some questions to ask ourselves could be:

·       Do I enjoy spending a whole day with my extended family?

·       Do I enjoy going to multiple places on Christmas day?

·       How do I feel about eating food that may cause a flare or worsen a flare?

·       Is the festive season causing me more stress than joy? If so, what do I need to change?

Answering these questions honestly may give you some clues about how the holiday time might affect you.

Stress is closely linked to chronic pain and also our emotions. Anything that is causing you stress might need a firm boundary. Pain is hard enough to live with and finding ways to make it easier is essential to managing it.

 

Next we also need to be mindful about the physical body.

  •  Will more or less exercise reduce a flare up?

  • Where is the pain being felt? If it is not in the lower half of the body would gentle walking help or maybe even a jog?   

  • Is the pain enough that that herbs or supplements should be taken?

  • Is there any identified foods or drinks that should be removed from the daily diet?

 

Setting the Boundaries

Setting boundaries can sound like “Actually I can only stay a few hours on Christmas day” or “I’m experiencing some pain flares this month and I want to keep on top of managing it so I will only be able to visit for a bit”. Boundaries can change overtime, so it doesn’t mean anything is set in stone. However, if this month is already stressing you out with shopping, organising food to take, managing family and their comments, trying to get on with normal daily chores and finding time for yourself, it may be time to look at what is going to be best for you and your healing.

When we have awareness around what is causing us pain then it becomes our responsibility to change it, people don’t know until you tell them. If you do things that are not aligned with your bodies needs it will only cause more stress and anxiety leading to resentment that will steal joy from the festive celebrations. This can increase pain intensity and frequency.

 

Bring in the Love

If you find that you are ok and don’t need to set a boundary but maybe you have identified that you need to exercise more or cut out triggering foods, then this is scheduling in time to do that exercise or meal planning. Remembering if certain foods need to be cut out always replace them with one that isn’t triggering. Doing what you need in order to heal is empowering. Whatever it is that you have identified always make sure you schedule in time to do what you love, this will be one of the fastest ways to help reduce stress and reduce pain. Make a list of things you enjoy doing that has safe movements and do them.

 

Taking Action

Once you have identified what you need to change then do what your body or soul is craving. If you have identified that you can’t visit everyone on Christmas day then don’t. Keeping promises to ourselves causes us to trust our body more, the more trust we have in ourselves the less fear we have and the less fear we have the less pain we feel.. If you have recognised that you’re stressed you can make a promise to yourself to incorporate some self-care practices to help reduce your stress. If you feel like exercise will worsen it then take action and rest – schedule in the time to rest.

 

Get Support

Support can look like:

·       Surrounding yourself with supportive friends and family

·       Seeing a physio/chiropractor/osteopath/ acupuncturist

  • Following a treatment plan from a pain coach/naturopath/nutritionist

·       Taking supplements or herbs to assist you through a flare

·       Taking advantage of any community classes or groups

 

I am Safe

I also never forget this mantra when I have a pain flare:

“I am safe,

I am supported,

My body is safely holding me”

 

Safety is felt in the body when promises that we make for ourselves are kept. So lovingly take the action that your body needs to heal and reduce any pain flares.

 

Jasmine Anderson