“Someone can still find joy within the context of a chronic pain disorder,” she said. There are two proven, practical methods for reducing how the brain processes pain: mindfulness and exercise.
Eating well, getting plenty of sleep and engaging in approved physical activity are all positive ways for you to handle your stress and pain. Talk to yourself constructively. Positive thinking is a powerful tool.
Connect with others. Connecting with others is a great way to build happiness. Spending time with family members and friends, or meeting new people, can contribute to joy and help individuals focus on happiness instead of pain. Make time for joy-filled activities.
Attending counseling, practicing mindfulness, and getting help from chronic pain support groups are all useful resources when chronic pain becomes too much. Support groups can be particularly helpful when people living with chronic pain feel as though nobody else understands their struggle.
Pain and Emotions
Pain is inextricably linked to emotions. In fact, physical pain and emotional pain exist on almost the same circuitry of the nervous system, with common brain systems involved. For this reason, it's not surprising that the presence of chronic pain is often associated with emotional changes.
Endorphins are the body's natural painkillers. Endorphins are released by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in response to pain or stress, this group of peptide hormones both relieves pain and creates a general feeling of well-being.
Guilt and Chronic Pain Management
Those who have chronic pain may feel guilty because they are unable to do things they want to do. They may feel that they are letting others down, or they believe they are doing something wrong or intentional.
People in chronic pain often report feeling trapped by their body or unable to reach out for help. These inward-turning feelings can increase social isolation and loneliness.
The concept of living well while living with chronic pain can sound impossible, but you can thrive despite chronic pain. Living well with your chronic pain isn't just about managing your pain, but rather about finding ways to live a happy, fulfilled life in spite of your symptoms.
Researchers have developed a type of treatment called pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) to help the brain “unlearn” this kind of pain. PRT teaches people to perceive pain signals sent to the brain as less threatening.
A stubborn and complex condition to treat, when chronic pain persists, it can lead to fatigue and depression. FATIGUE: Chronic pain makes it hard to get restorative sleep and the lack of sleep can have sufferers wake up in increased pain.
Acetaminophen: This drug (Tylenol®) dulls pain receptors in the brain. As a result, you feel less pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): NSAIDs lower the production of prostaglandins. These hormone-like chemicals irritate nerve endings, causing inflammation and pain.
The percentage of adults who had chronic pain in the past 3 months increased with age and was higher among those aged 45–64 (25.8%) and 65 and over (30.8%) compared with those aged 18–29 (8.5%) and 30–44 (14.6%) (Figure 2).
Aging has also been linked to an increase in the pain threshold, a decline of painful sensations, and a decrease in pain tolerance. Still, elderly patients with chronic pain show an increased risk for dementia and cognitive impairment.
Chronic pain induces a multitude of harmful effects; recently it has been suggested that chronic pain is also associated with premature aging, manifested in shortened telomere length (TL).
The development of chronic pain is associated with synaptic plasticity and changes in the CNS and various neural areas that modulate pain. Chronic pain entails structural and functional changes in corticolimbic brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, ACC, amygdala, hippocampus, NAc, and PAC.
Being in long term pain literally changes the structure of our brains. Chronic pain reduces the volume of gray matter in our brains. Grey matter is the area of the brain which controls learning, attention, memory, thought processes, motor control and coordination.
People living with chronic pain are at heightened risk for mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Chronic pain can affect sleep, increase stress levels and contribute to depression. An estimated 35% to 45% of people with chronic pain experience depression.
Paracetamol, ibuprofen work best
The guidelines, which are not binding, urge doctors to use physiotherapy, exercise and over-the-counter pain medications such as paracetamol and ibuprofen before turning to prescription painkillers for chronic pain.