How can you manage chronic pain throughout the holidays?
Managing chronic pain requires planning ahead to minimize aggravating your pain during travel, keeping up with your pain management treatments, and giving your body a rest when necessary. By planning ahead for your travel plans and activities and taking steps to ensure you don’t aggravate your chronic pain condition, you can enjoy the holidays without aggravating your chronic pain-causing conditions.
Don’t Let Holiday Preparations Push You Too Far
During the busy holiday routine, many chronic pain patients find themselves overexerting themselves, leading to a flare-up of their chronic pain. Instead of trying to accomplish all of your holiday errands and activities all at once, chronic pain patients can reduce the chances of aggravating their pain by pacing themselves and planning out their holiday errands and activities ahead of time. Breaking up your holiday errand list is an excellent way to limit stress on your body, which can help prevent your pain from being aggravated, keeping you much more comfortable and able to enjoy holiday festivities.
Try to Stay Active During the Holidays
For many people, the holidays are a time to relax and take a break from the stress of the year. While rest and relaxation are fine in moderation, patients with certain types of pain, like joint-related pain, can notice increased symptoms, such as stiffness and reduced range of motion, if they abstain from exercise and regular movement. Because lower temperatures also increase joint stiffness, staying active during the holidays is important for managing chronic pain symptoms. You can stay active during the holidays by:
- Taking short walks around the neighborhood
- Performing gentle stretches
- Getting up every once in a while, when sitting for longer periods
- Utilizing low-impact exercises
While exercise is an important part of pain management, it’s important to note that you should only undertake exercise plans that your doctor has approved if you are dealing with chronic pain or another underlying medical condition.
Practice Mindfulness During the Holidays
The holidays can be as stressful as they are relaxing for many people. Travel plans, budgeting for extra expenses, and complicated family relationships can increase feelings of stress in many patients who are already dealing with the stress associated with chronic pain. Stress can increase pain levels in chronic pain patients, so it’s important to take steps to minimize your stress during the holidays. Make sure that you’re getting plenty of sleep, prioritize activities that you actually enjoy, and don’t feel obligated to attend every holiday gathering.
Prioritize Your Comfort During Travel
As the holidays approach each year, millions of Americans get in the car for a long road trip or take a plane to visit distant relatives. Traveling with chronic pain requires taking steps to prioritize your comfort, as sitting in a cramped car or plane seat for hours can aggravate certain types of chronic pain. We recommend stopping at rest stops to stretch your legs, getting up from your seat when it’s safe to do so, and using supportive cushioning if you have to sit for an extended period.
Enjoy the Holidays This Year Without Neglecting Your Pain Care Needs
If you dealt with increased pain during the holidays last year, now is a great time to start planning ahead for this year to minimize pain flare-ups. Specialty Pain Management’s team of board-certified pain management doctors is always here to help if you need extra guidance for navigating this year’s holiday rush while living with a chronic pain-causing condition.