Have you ever been in a room with a loudmouth? Maybe at work, or a party? I met one in a bus shelter once. A loudmouth has opinions and loves to expound them. They have no interest in listening, little agenda for hearing or understanding your opinion, and they are “full of themselves.” Their opinion is right, so right they must tell everyone about it. Loudly and without ceasing. They have few friends, but only the brave (or foolish) take them on, because they love nothing better than a good battle.
Pain is a loudmouth.
With no regard for you of how it’s affecting your life, it inserts itself. There’s no escaping it, and it pokes and prods at you unceasingly. Pain, if you allow it, will steal your joy, your purpose and your quality of life.
Here are some ways to outsmart it:
First I need to clarify. By “outsmart” I mean move pain from the loudmouth position to a seat somewhere at the back of the bus. If you suffer from chronic pain, it will probably never leave you, but with proper management, it can have less prominence in your life.
Make some physical changes
Look at your diet and reduce known inflammatories such as gluten and sugar. (I cut them out altogether.) Eat a healthy diet and a reasonable amount for your age and activity level. Smoking is known to worsen chronic pain, so get help to stop. Alcohol affects sleep, so cut back.
Reduce stress
There’s no doubt stress increases pain, but as most stress comes from outside our lives, how do we reduce it? One tactic is to look at your schedule, and only take on those activities which not only bring joy, but which you have the energy for. Also, let go of those things you can’t control. When I was planning our wedding last year, I would find myself stressing about the weather, whether the flower girls would walk down the aisle 
and if the cake would turn out. It helped to constantly remind myself to let go of those things I had no control over. (Confession: I stressed more than I should have about that cake. Getting advice from an experienced cake decorator and reading LOTS of Pinterest helped me.)
Try deep breathing
Remember Lamaze? The principle behind it was to reduce the stress of labour. Look online for some deep breathing exercises which will help you when pain is insistent.
Be consistent with your pain relief
Talk to your doctor about pain relief, and find something you can take safely and over a long period of time. Some doctors will prescribe anti-inflammatories for short term relief, but these and stronger pain medication should not be taken on a consistent basis. Whatever you use, take it consistently. I always find when I miss a dose, it takes two doses to get back on track.
Get good sleep
Pain is exhausting. If you do nothing else in a day except deal with pain, you will be exhausted at the end of the day. All of us have other things we do, and want to do, and it takes its toll. No one can cope, especially with chronic pain, if you start the day tired.
I’m not a great sleeper, and haven’t been for years. Part of that is the pain, and part is the 
difficulty of turning my mind off. Or, I get “two a.m. brain,” which springs alive after I get up to use the bathroom, and doesn’t want to shut down again. I use several tricks to get and stay asleep so I can start the day somewhat refreshed.
We’ve looked at practical, physical changes we can make to help with dealing with pain. Next week I want to look at some emotional/mental strategies, which are equally important.
Stay tuned!
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