"Beliefs of what lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are insignificant compared to what lies within us"

Do you have Arthritis?  Here are the TOP 10 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR PAIN

By Lou Cable

 

 

Over-do Activities - Pushing past your physical limitations can increase pain.  As you progress through your tasks for the day you feel very tired and pain becomes more intense, but you continue anyway.  By not listening to your body, you go beyond what you should do.  Pain increases when you don’t pace yourself.

Do Not Rest or Relax – Activity should be balanced with rest and relaxation.  Without rest, your body rebels and sends you pain signals.  The level of intensity you try to maintain by not resting or relaxing can be the catalyst for the cycle of fatigue – pain- more fatigue – more pain.

Do Not Exercise - Exercise can actually ease or decrease chronic pain.  Regular, gentle movements keep muscles toned and help build strength and flexibility.  If you don’t exercise your muscles become weak and then when you do move, you have more pain.

Skip Medications – Doctors order meds to be taken according to specific directions which offer the optimal benefits.  If you skip doses or skip days of taking medications, you don’t allow your body to react to the medications properly.  Skipping meds has a consequence – more pain.

Get Inadequate Sleep – A good night’s sleep is considered part of a good health regimen. Many who have arthritis have problems sleeping because of pain, but the less sleep you get, the more intense your pain will be.  If you can’t sleep, speak with your Doctor.

Gain Weight – Being overweight impacts weight-bearing joints and can increase arthritic pain.  For every pound a person is overweight, 3 to 5 pounds of extra weight is added to each knee during walking.  Weight gain equals more pain.

Don’t Protect Your Joints – You can protect your joints by using assistive devices, wearing supports, using better body mechanics such as using large joints rather than small joints, and resting the joints.  By not adhering to these principles of joint protection, you risk increasing your pain and damaging your joints.

Pile On More Stress – Too much stress can increase pain and make it more difficult to cope with the added burdens imposed by their disease.  Immune function, stress and disease are interconnected and will develop into a cycle of increasing pain and stress.

Pessimism Provokes Pain – Pain feeds pessimism and pessimism feeds pain. If you feel pessimistic and hopeless, you are less likely to be compliant with medications, treatments, exercise and positive action.  There is a mind-body connection.

Focus on Unproven Remedies – People with chronic pain may resort to trying anything to stop their pain.  If the person is buying into quack cures and gimmicks, they diminish the time and effort given to proven and acceptable treatments.  Worthless treatments may lead to more pain.