What Exacerbates Your Chronic Pain?

Some factors that make our pain worse are common sense, other reasons are not so apparent.

The things we do, such as a new exercise, exerting ourselves physically, and outright stress are the common sense side of the things we do that can make our pain increase.  

Here are a few things to ponder, if you are having a spike in pain levels and can not quite figure out just what you have done to increase them! 

Those who live with pain know that there can be an increase in pain levels without having done anything at all that is new, stressful physically,or emotionally.  Pain has it's own 'mind' at times, and seems to just do whatever 'it' wants to.  Yet if we make note of our pain levels and see a pattern of sorts, that may show the hidden activities and thoughts that are increasing our pain.

So, for starters, try to keep a log of your pain levels.  I keep a medication log daily.  Kind of a crossover from nursing, having to keep accurate records of medications given to patients.  This has helped me to remember exactly what was taken when, how much, what the effect was, and this also keeps a count of all medications.  This is a habit for me, I feel odd to even take two Naproxen Sodium without writing it down.

Call me what you will, but it works for me.  I know too many people that just pop their meds when pain is bad, and then forget exactly when it was, what worked and didn't work, and when the next dose is due.  If you take a medication every 12 hours, then one every 4, and one twice a day, for instance, how on earth is one to remember what was taken, and when without noting it down?  This worry alone can increase pain!

Some of the hidden ways that pain can be increased are:  A change in medication; either in type, dosage, timing, or stopping a med completely.  Not taking care to stretch or pay attention to your muscles can result in increased pain when those muscles are even slightly overused. 

As I mentioned above, emotional stress can increase pain levels, but it is easy to pass pain off on more tangible reasons.  Stress in your life causes muscle tension, which increases pain levels, which increase muscle tension/ muscle spasms.  It can become a catch 22 that is hard to solve.

I will write further about how to keep that medication log; exactly what to start out with--just trying to write it all down without a plan, can be messy and aggravating!


Gentle Hugs...