We all experience pain, but we may not always appreciate the extent to which pain can impact a person's overall wellbeing. If someone feels pain, it's a warning that something is wrong. That in itself is enough to arouse concern, but there are times when it can be even more complicated. Those who suffer from chronic pain may have few if any options for relief, even if their cause of pain is known. When untreated, pain can be significantly debilitating, and it can seriously reduce your quality of life. In light of Pain Awareness Month, we'd like to do our part to let people know how severe pain can be and what people can do to help themselves and others. 

Pain Management: How To Find Help

For some, it may seem easier to live with pain than to seek assistance. In reality, even slight pain is an indication that there's a problem needing attention. It's usually better to seek help with pain as soon as you notice it. Not only might you find relief, but if there is a serious problem, it's almost always better to find out sooner rather than later. 

According to recent data from the CDC, approximately 50 million adults in the U.S. suffer from some form of chronic pain. Living with these conditions presents many challenges to maintain the life we love, but it is possible. In these cases, pain management becomes an important part of everyday life. There are a variety of strategies and treatments to help with the specific condition you may be facing, but it's also always important to have support. If you're one of the many adults living with chronic pain, here are just some people you can look to for help with pain management.  

• Friends & Family
• Physicians, Nurses, & Assistants
• Physical Therapists 
• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Nutritionists & Dietitians
• Pharmacy Workers
• Other Patients

Preparing For Doctors' Visits

 Whether for yourself or a loved one, it can help to have a thorough understanding of your issues and concerns going into your next visit. This is helpful for giving you and your physician the most detailed information possible and formulating the best possible plan. Some important things to consider are where specifically you feel your pain, how often it occurs, how intense it is, and other factors that may be related to the same issue. You may also want to consider using a checklist to cover each area, ensuring you don't leave anything out that could help you in developing an effective pain management strategy. 

Supporting Loved Ones

No small part of chronic pain is the way in which it can affect the ones you care about. When it comes to supporting others with chronic pain issues, it can be especially difficult knowing how best to help them. In some cases, just having another person there to know that they're cared for can vastly improve the experience of visiting their doctor. There are lots of simple ways you can help someone with chronic pain improve the quality of their life. Knowing and understanding others is a great place to start, as this helps everyone know they're cared for and that their struggles are worth fighting for. 

Chronic Pain Awareness

Though chronic pain remains an issue too many of us have to live with, there are vast support networks in existence that can help make the experience as easy as possible for you and those you love. At Church Home LifeSpring, we encourage everyone to take full advantage of the resources they have available to improve their quality of life. Living with pain is never ideal, but with help, it can be enormously better than it could be on your own.