When learning to manage chronic pain, it’s best to utilize traditional methods of pain management with complementary and alternative therapies. You can use your imagination to help manage your chronic pain. These methods of mental control can be done in the comfort of your own home and are natural ways to help manage your pain. I’ve used the example of back pain, but it can be utilized for a number of chronic pain conditions.
- Altered Focus– Focus your attention on any part of your body that is not experiencing pain (hand, leg), and image altering the sensation of that non-painful body part. For example, you can image your back cooling down or warming up. This will help your mind focus on something other than your back pain.
- Dissociation– This technique involves mentally cutting off or dissociating the painful portion of your body. You should image that your lower back is not apart of the rest of your body and that you can remove it. This allows you to image your mind and body as separate entities.
- Sensory Splitting– This technique involves dividing the painful sensations (numbess, hot, burning, needles) into separate parts. For example, if your back pain feels hot to you, focus on the heat and not on the hurt.
- Mental anesthesia– Imagine your own method of numbing treatment. You can imagine an anesthestic like a numbing solution or a cool icepack being put on your painful lower back.
- Mental analgesia– Imagine a powerful painkiller that immediately rids your body of pain. For example, imagine a powerful flow of natural pain relievers called endorphins being released and curing your back pain.
Visit www.spine-health.com for more information on the 11 Chronic Pain Control Techniques.
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