Pain is not necessarily a bad thing; sometimes it has a specific purpose. For example, pain can alert us when we have sprained our ankles or that we are overdoing or exhausting ourselves.
But, for some people, pain can cause weeks and even months of discomfort and needless suffering, and it starts interfering in their quality of life.
However, when your pain has been lingering for too long, you must turn to a pain relief techniques or treatment that can give you some relaxation. That said, if you have been suffering from such pain, you will be happy to know that today you have more options, than ever before, to control or get some relief from the pain.
Here are eight non-invasive treatment options and techniques that can help you better control and ease your pain.
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Regularly exercising
Some form of physical activity can play a very important role in interrupting the constant and brutal cycle of pain as well as the reduced mobility, which happens in some chronic conditions like arthritis. Exercise or some other form of physical activity can help prevent your condition from any further complications, and it might give your relief from the pain as well.
If you are only starting to include some form of exercise in your routine, you can try gentle aerobic activities like swimming, walking, or cycling. However, remember to give your body some time to get used to these activities because if you overdo any exercise, it may make your condition and pain worse.
Cold and heat technique
This might be one of the most commonly used and known pain relief techniques around the world. The cold and heat applying methods are two of the tried and tested ways to bring some relief in the pain in certain kinds of injuries.
You can try to use homemade hot or cold packs, and if they don’t work, you can also try a more professional version of the same treatment technique by consulting a physical therapist or chiropractor. They can help you penetrate deeper within your muscles and tissues and give you some relief and relaxation.
Physical therapy and occupational therapy
For a lot of people suffering from chronic pain, these two techniques work wonders in their fight against the lingering pain.
Physical therapists can be very helpful in recommending and guiding you with a series of exercises that are designed particularly to give your relief from the pain and to improve your muscular mobility and strength.
However, your occupational therapist guides you not to allow the pain to become an obstacle in your everyday life. They help you learn an alternative way to perform your daily activities in a specific way so they don’t aggravate the pain.
Alternative pain relief treatment options
Treating the pain doesn’t always have to be an invasion or critical medical or surgical procedure. Today, there is an increasing number of options available as an alternative treatment to many problems, including managing your pain.
For example, with busy lives and busier routines, many people suffer from conditions like plantar fasciitis. It is a condition where the ligament along the bottom of your foot becomes inflamed, causing severe pain in the heel and foot. People who are overweight, women between the ages of 40 and 60, and athletes, runners, and people who are physically very active are more likely to suffer from Plantar Fasciitis. However, you can also opt for non-invasive plantar fasciitis treatment options, which will vary based on your symptoms.
Following are examples of non-invasive, alternative treatment options:
● Chiropractic care
Chiropractic care provides a drug-free and non-invasive approach to manage pain by addressing the root cause of the problem and give you long-term relief in conditions like plantar fasciitis. Your chiropractor may include methods like supervised exercises, massages, and chiropractic adjustments to help your better manage pain.
● Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine is another non-invasive and progressive way to help your body promote its natural healing abilities and enable the damaged and injured tissues in the body to repair and regrow. Regenerative medicine use methods like therapeutic stem cell and soft waves to provide you an effective pain management solution that allows your body to fully heal and recover by addressing the root cause of the problem.
Mind-body technique
Sometimes focusing on the positivity, relaxation of your mind, and overall mental well-being, you can also give yourself relief from pain. Mind-body techniques include breathing exercises, meditation, and mindfulness. Making these lifestyle changes help you rebuild a stronger sense of control over your body and mind.
It gives you some peace, turns down the ‘fight or flight’ response, which is likely to anyways worsens chronic muscle pain and tension. Besides, you can also adopt things that help you relax into your routine, like listening to calming music, reading to divert your attention from the pain, or stretching exercises.
Biofeedback method
The biofeedback pain relief techniques involves learning specific relaxation and breathing exercises using the biofeedback machine. The biofeedback machine turns information regarding your physiological functions, like blood pressure and heart rate, into meaningful visual cues, like a graph, an animation or even a blinking light.
The information you receive and watching the changing visualizations in real-time, that the biofeedback machine gives you can enable you to gain higher control over your body’s response to pain. This can help you not only understand your condition but it also helps you find a unique way to manage your pain.
Yoga and tai chi approach
The yoga exercises and positions and the Chinese martial art practice, tai chi can be an effective way to give yourself relief from pain. Both of these exercises involve breath control, gentle movements that help strengthen and stretch muscles, and meditation.
For many people incorporating physical exercises like yoga and tai chi in their regular life can help them manage their pain caused by different conditions including lingering injuries, headaches, and arthritis.
Therapeutic massage technique
When most of us hear massage, we think of relaxing in a salon or spa and enjoying a heavenly time. But massages can be more than just an indulgence.
They can help ease pain by working any tension out of your joints and muscles, relieving you of stress and anxiety, and it may even successfully distract you from pain by giving you equally stronger sensations that takeover the pain signals.
There are certified professionals like chiropractors who can offer therapeutic massage treatments designed to help ease your pain.
The final thought
For some of us dealing with pain is part of our everyday life. However, when the pain becomes an obstacle in your quality of life or it stops you from performing any routine task, you should realize that you need to take an action for it. Even though it is always recommended to consult a medical professional and find out the root cause of your pain, you can try the above-mentioned pain relief techniques to find some ease. However, it highly possible that all of these approaches to ease the pain won’t work for everyone. That’s why you can discuss with your doctor any technique that you might be considering to ensure it will not worsen your condition in any way.