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Chronic pain can be debilitating and embarrassing. And if you're one of the millions in the US alone suffering from it, you know all too well about being tired of living with it every day. Fortunately, there are safe yet, effective alternatives and treatments at our Manhattan pain management center that you can turn to that can lessen the pain or even completely relieve chronic pain without invasive procedures or prescription drug intake. This is a blog about treatments you can try to relieve chronic pain without having to take any medication.
Reduce Drug Intake
Some people try to get rid of their chronic pain by turning to medication, but this is often short-lived and can become habit-forming. Also, medications can have a whole host of side effects that may not outweigh the benefits. By eliminating the source of your chronic pain, you'll be able to start looking at other options that can truly help you deal with your condition long-term.
There are multiple ways that you can get rid of your pain without drugs, and these may include exercise therapy, acupuncture, and massage therapy. Consult a pain specialist about these or other treatment options if you suffer from chronic pain.
Practice Mindfulness
A study found that participants who took part in an eight-week mindfulness course had significantly lower levels of pain than those who didn't participate in the program. Mindfulness is one of the most effective tools for dealing with chronic pain because it helps you focus on how you feel instead of trying to avoid those feelings or ignore them altogether. It involves focusing on the present moment, on the sensations and thoughts of the present instead of the past or future.
This practice helps reduce stress and anxiety, which may increase your sensitivity to pain signals in your body. Mindfulness also improves sleep quality and reduces depression symptoms, both of which can exacerbate chronic pain conditions if left untreated.
Try Acupuncture
If you're looking for an alternative to prescription drugs and want to find a way to relieve your chronic pain, try acupuncture. Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medical practice that involves inserting thin needles into specific points on the body. It's been used for thousands of years and is now considered one of the safest and most effective ways to treat chronic pain conditions. Some people also use it as a preventive treatment method — meaning they get regular treatments to prevent future flare-ups.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise is one of the best ways to keep your body healthy and strong. It can also reduce stress, lower blood pressure and boost your mood. If you haven't exercised in a while, start with walking for a few minutes each day and build up from there. Here are some ways that exercise helps relieve chronic pain:
Exercise increases blood flow to the muscles, which helps relieve stiffness and soreness. It also increases circulation around your organs and limbs, which improves digestion and eliminates toxins more quickly than when you're sitting still all day long.
Exercise boosts your mood by releasing endorphins — those feel-good hormones that make you happy — into your bloodstream during exercise. This effect lasts for hours after your workout ends.
Exercise increases muscle strength and endurance, which helps prevent injuries from happening in the first place (and also prevents re-injury if you do happen to get hurt). This means less downtime from activity due to injury or illness caused by overuse of weak muscles.
Get a Medical Massage Therapy
Medical massage has been used as a natural method of treating various conditions, including chronic pain. It involves applying pressure to specific points on the body in order to stimulate circulation, improve blood flow and reduce tension in muscles and joints. A medical massage can go a long way in helping you get rid of those nagging aches and pains.
Massage has been shown to reduce stress levels and lower cortisol levels in the body — both of which contribute to chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia and arthritis. Some studies have even found that massage therapy can be more effective than antidepressant medications at treating depression symptoms associated with chronic pain conditions.
Try TENS Therapy
TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) therapy uses mild electrical pulses through electrodes placed on the skin, overlying nerves that travel from the spine to other parts of the body. It has been shown to be effective for treating chronic lower back pain and other types of chronic pain, such as joint or muscle aches.
Work with a Physical Therapist
Chronic pain can be difficult to manage on your own because there are many different causes and types of chronic pain. A physical therapist can help identify what's causing your pain, provide treatments program to help ease discomfort and reduce stress on your joints, teach you how to maintain a healthy lifestyle throughout the day, and offer other strategies for managing your condition.
A physical therapist will develop an exercise program that's tailored to your specific needs and goals. This could include strengthening exercises and stretches for those who need additional strength in their muscles, as well as stretching exercises for those who need more flexibility in their joints.
Consider Non-Drug Treatment Options First
When it comes to dealing with chronic pain, you should always consider treatment options without medication first. The key is to find a non-drug treatment that is effective for your specific situation. In any case, there's still hope for finding relief from chronic pain, and it doesn't have to mean drugs and their side effects!
There's no one-size-fits-all approach to tackling chronic pain. You'll have to try out different options or combine them and see what works best for you, but hopefully, this article has given you a few things to consider.
Whatever you decide to do, the most important thing is to speak with our Manhattan pain management professional. They can show you what treatments are best suited for you, and they can provide the crucial guidance that will help make your transition to a "pain-free life" as smooth as possible. With the right approach, relief from chronic pain is attainable for just about anyone.