What are the ways to relieve chronic pain

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for chronic pain relief. It must be adjusted based on the cause of pain, the pattern of attacks, and individual body tolerance. The overall principle is to follow the principles of first non-invasive and then invasive, and adjusting lifestyle first and then considering medical intervention.

I met a little girl who works in design a while ago. She suffered from chronic shoulder and neck pain for almost 4 years. She initially followed the trend and bought a popular massage device and applied various blood-activating plasters. When it hurt, she would lie down and not move. As a result, the pain became more and more frequent. Later, she went to the pain department to find out that there was no organic problem. , I followed the rehabilitation therapist to adjust the height of my desk, changed my habit of sitting still for an hour to getting up every 40 minutes to drink water and stretch for 2 minutes, and added Pilates specifically for the shoulder and neck twice a week. I persisted for less than two months, and now the pain is rarely enough to require painkillers.

At this point, some people will definitely ask, isn’t it said that you should rest when you feel pain? In fact, this is still a controversial point in the academic circles. Some people believe that activities should be reduced during chronic pain attacks to avoid irritating the lesions. Other more cutting-edge research believes that as long as it is not severe pain in the acute injury period, low-intensity active activities can promote local circulation and reduce pain sensitivity. For example, elderly people with knee osteoarthritis who walk slowly for 20 minutes a day will have less joint pain than people who sit on the sofa for a long time.

As for the commonly asked questions about hot compresses, cold compresses, fascia guns, and moxibustion, there is no unified "correct answer." Some people think that the pain disappears after the hot compress is stretched all over the body, while others say that the hot compress will aggravate the inflammatory edema and become more painful the more it is applied, and some say that acupuncture is particularly helpful for low back pain. There are also controlled studies that show that there is no significant difference between the effect of acupuncture in relieving chronic pain and the placebo effect. In fact, as long as you are not uncomfortable after using these non-medical intervention methods and the pain is indeed relieved, you can continue to use them. There is no need to worry about whether they are "scientific" or not.

If after a week or two of self-adjustment, the pain still does not relieve or even gets worse, don’t try blindly with home remedies. It is safest to go to the pain department of the hospital for investigation. If it is mild, the doctor will prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with relatively small side effects, or combined with shock wave, nerve therapy, etc. For minimally invasive intervention such as block, I also met an old man who suffered from diabetic peripheral neuralgia. He soaked his feet with traditional Chinese medicine at home for half a year but did not feel any better. Later, the doctor prescribed nerve nourishing drugs, combined with foot soaking in warm water at 37 degrees for 10 minutes every day, and the pain was reduced by half in less than a month.

By the way, I would like to mention one more thing. Many people think that chronic pain must be "cured radically". In fact, for most degenerative changes or neurogenic chronic pain, it is already a very good result to be able to control the pain to the point that it does not affect normal work and life. Don't try three unguided remedies in pursuit of "no pain at all", which will injure your body.