How to Reduce Chronic Pain Without Medication

PUBLISHED ON:

April 29, 2022

We feel pain for a reason, but sometimes pain can overstay, causing physical discomfort and mental health issues.

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for more than 12 weeks. It is constant pain or pain that comes and goes. You can experience chronic pain due to;

  • Arthritis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Chronic back pain
  • Cancer
  • Scar tissue
  • Neurogenic pain due to injury to a nerve
  • Surgeries, accidents, or sports injuries.

How to Reduce Chronic Pain – Without Medication!

There are many options for managing chronic pain, including lifestyle changes, medications like opioids, NSAIDs, and over-the-counter pain medications. These medicines have many shortcomings, but we’ll highlight the most profound;

  • They don’t work for some patients
  • They have their side effect and can be toxic to patients with other underlying conditions.
  • Sometimes they reduce in effectiveness, necessitating prescriptions of stronger medicines.

However, there are other alternatives that you can use to manage pain, and they include;

Cold and heat

Cold and heat is a practice that many people use to manage chronic pain. The trick to using cold and heat therapy is knowing when to use them.

Heat therapy

It is more useful when dealing with muscle pain. It eases the pain by increasing blood flow to the area and relaxing the muscle. Heat also reduces lactic acid accumulation, which could increase the pain.

Cold therapy

Cold therapy reduces blood flow to the injured area, which slows down swelling and inflammation. You can apply cold therapy to joint and tendon pain. 

Exercise

The exercise relieves chronic pain and improves strength, mobility, and flexibility over time. When you exercise, there is a release of endorphins which act as natural pain killers. It’s essential to find a workout that does not worsen your pain. Chronic pain can affect the quality of life, which you can reverse by exercising.

Physical therapy

It is a pain management technique that involves exercise, massage, and heat treatment to manage chronic pain and other conditions.

Massage

It is a practice that involves tissue and soft tissue manipulation to relax muscles and reduce inflammation.

High-tech Approaches to Reduce Chronic Pain 

Pain management is evolving, and pain management doctors use devices and techniques that wean their patients off medications. These techniques and devices have successfully treated conditions that previously were not easy to treat. They include;

Spinal cord stimulation

It is a procedure where your doctor inserts a device that sends low levels of electrical signals to your spinal cord to relieve pain.

Radiofrequency

It is a procedure involving radio waves to destroy a small area of nerves blocking the pain signal to the spinal cord.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.

It is a technique that uses a low voltage electrical current to provide pain relief. It provides symptomatic relief through exciting sensory nerves.

Get Alternative Pain Treatment From Southeast Pain And Spine Care

Visit our website to learn more about alternative ways to reduce chronic pain. We have a team of qualified and certified pain management doctors who will give you quality, non-surgical treatment options to relieve your pain. Fill out the form below to request an appointment.

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