These 7 Tips Will Help Moms With Chronic Pain

Whether you’re a mom who has dealt with chronic pain for many years or you’ve recently begun experiencing chronic pain for one reason or another, you’ll likely already know that the world of chronic pain can be difficult to wade through sometimes. No matter where you are in your journey of handling chronic pain, there are so many techniques you can use to manage your pain in the moment and over the long term.

Of course, the word “chronic” is in the name for a reason, and no technique will completely cure the problem. However, offering a little bit of relief along the way might come in handy. Here are some tips to help you do that.

• Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises can be a great way to handle just about anything — from mental stressors to physical ones. When you take a moment to stop, pay attention to your breathing, and relax your whole system, your entire body can often follow suit and take cues to relax.

Additionally, deep breathing can help with the mental relaxation element of dealing with chronic pain. Find a few exercises you like — such as box breathing or counting your breaths — and return to them whenever you feel overwhelmed.

• Meditation

As another method of calming the mind, meditation is a great way to manage chronic pain both mentally and even physically.

Although it might seem like sitting still is the last thing you need for your chronic pain, there are many ways to meditate, and you can find one that works for you and your comfort level. Try it out with pillows, lying down, in your bed, with music you like, or even with some gentle movement. It’s totally up to you!

• Light Movement

On the other side of meditation, you might also be in the camp of thinking that movement is the last thing you need when you’re in pain. Of course, everybody is different, but if you’re on the fence about whether movement is a good choice for you, you might want to at least give it a try and see how things work out.

Trying out different movement techniques such as gentle yoga, water exercise or swimming, stretching, taking a walk, or even dancing can be fantastic for the management of chronic pain. Sometimes, loosening up the muscles and joints and changing the ways that you move on a regular basis can have a transformative impact on your pain levels.

• Eating Healthy Foods

It’s important to do everything in moderation, and that includes your diet. Even though everyone has different dietary needs and restrictions, eating healthy foods on a regular basis so you can feel nourished and full is one of the best things you can do to equip your body to heal and support you.

You need a variety of vitamins and minerals in order to give you the energy to heal, and that’s exactly what eating healthy food does. This doesn’t mean you can never have junk food again, but it does mean you might want to pay a little bit of extra attention to what you put in your body.

• Tracking Your Pain Levels

Tracking your pain levels might feel a bit odd at first, but keeping a log or diary can actually be extremely helpful when it comes to pain management and noticing patterns in your lifestyle that can lead to better habits.

When you keep track of what kinds of things you’re doing, how you’re eating, and how you’re resting around times of more intense pain, you can figure out potential triggers in order to avoid them in the future. Of course, this isn’t a perfect system, but it can sometimes help more than you realize.

• Massages

While massages can be a great way to practice a bit of relaxation and self-care, they can also be extremely therapeutic and relieving when it comes to managing pain.

Specifically, getting a massage can be very relieving when it comes to physical pain and discomfort. For those who experience pain that comes in the form of stiffness, tightness, and soreness, massages can be the perfect way to work out those muscles. If you go to a chiropractor, you may even find that they offer massage services targeted at pain management.

• Rest

No matter who you are, getting enough rest and enough sleep every night is highly important. However, if you happen to be managing chronic pain in your life, that’s just another reason to prioritize your rest. Between kids and taking care of yourself, it might be tempting to cut your rest short so you can spread yourself thinner, but getting enough rest is crucial to your health and your ability to heal.

Managing Chronic Pain as a Mom

Mom life already comes with plenty of responsibilities, and adding chronic pain to that list isn’t easy. But there are so many ways to manage chronic pain so you can get back to living the life you love. From breathing exercises to getting enough rest each night, you can feel a little better in your own body however works best for you.

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