Safe ways to manage, treat chronic pain

Safe ways to manage and treat chronic pain detail how to tackle chronic pain through medications, alternative therapies, and even watchful waiting that observes symptoms without treatment.

One major aspect of chronic pain is its persistence over a longer period, resistance to most medical treatments, and affects millions of people. Chronic pain is caused by many factors, including nerve damage, injuries that fail to heal properly, and conditions that accompany normal aging. The most common causes of chronic pain related to disease include:

• AIDS
• arthritis
• cancer
• chronic pancreatitis
• gallbladder disease
• nerve dysfunction
• soft tissue injury
• spinal disorders
• unresolved disease or injury (psychogenic pain

Chronic pain and management treatments

The goal of chronic pain management is to reduce pain, rather than eliminate it. This is because quite often it is not possible to eliminate pain.  Hence safe ways to manage and treat chronic pains are to improve function and increase quality of life.  Due to rapid advances in medicine, many medications and treatments are available for acute and chronic pain. Doctors will most likely prescribe medications before other forms of therapy. However, some medicines are more effective when combined with different treatments.

Alternative medicine

Non-drug pain treatments can help treat both local and general pain. Chronic pain may be relieved by immersion in activities that deeply engage a person diagnosed with pain, such as a hobby.  Other alternatives for pain relief include:

• acupuncture
• applying cold or warm compresses directly to the painful area
• biofeedback
• chiropractor
• diet modifications
• exercise
• hypnosis
• massage
• relaxation techniques
• transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
• ultrasound deep heating therapy
• water therapy

Medications

Treatment of chronic pain usually involves medicines and therapy. Drug treatments for mild to moderate pain focus on non-prescription pain relievers. And different types of medication help people who have other kinds of pain. For example, long-acting medicines are prescribed for constant pain. Short-acting medicines treat pain that comes and goes. Other drugs that have been effective in treating chronic pain include:

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• Anesthetics
• Antidepressants
• Anti-inflammatory drugs
• Anti-seizure medicines
• Common pain relievers
• Injection
• Opioid pain medications

Pain treatment clinic

If chronic pain persists and interferes with your daily life despite treatment, you may want to seek help at a pain management clinic. You will both receive treatment and learn to cope with chronic pain. Treatment is usually provided by a team that works together to address all the possible causes of chronic pain.

Physical therapy

A physiatrist or physical therapist can suggest an exercise program tailored for you to increase your daily functioning and decrease pain. Other treatments may include whirlpool therapy, ultrasound, and deep-muscle massage.

Psychotherapy

Many people diagnosed with chronic pain feel the emotional effects of the condition. These may include feelings of anger, sadness, hopelessness, or despair. In addition, pain can alter one’s personality, disrupt sleep, interfere with work and relationships, and often have a profound effect on family members. Support and counseling from a psychiatrist or psychologist, combined with a comprehensive pain treatment program, may be needed. Psychotherapists might also specialize in relaxation training or biofeedback to relieve pain, lessen muscle spasms, and reduce stress.

Surgery

Surgical procedures are only used when all other treatment methods have failed and there is a reasonable belief that the procedure will successfully stop or reduce pain. Chronic pain with a definite cause can be relieved by correcting the condition that is causing the pain.

Decompression surgery – This includes decompression surgeries, such as those used to repair a herniated disk or to treat carpal tunnel syndrome.

Drug delivery implants – Doctors can implant drug delivery systems under the skin to deliver pain-relieving drugs directly into the bloodstream or central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord).

Electrode implants – One form of surgical treatment involves implanting electrodes under the skin to stimulate peripheral nerves and relieve pain.

Nerve blocks – Often a group of nerves that causes pain to a specific organ or body region can be blocked with local anesthetics.

Nerve surgery – In rare cases when severe pain has not responded to other treatments and procedures, doctors perform surgery on certain nerves to create relief and allow people to resume near-normal activities. In very few cases, pain is relieved by actually cutting the nerves that are causing the pain.

Organ removal surgery – In cases when organic processes cause chronic pain (chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cysts), doctors may recommend surgery to remove part of the pancreas that is inflamed.

Watchful waiting

Watchful waiting is one of the safe ways to manage and treat chronic pain. This is when you and your health professional observe your symptoms or condition without using medical treatment, and when you can control occasional, mild to moderate pain with exercise, healthy eating, massage, and pain relievers, such as ibuprofen or aspirin, you may not need further treatment from a health professional.

https://www.healthline.com/health/pain-relief/surprising-natural-pain-killers

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