Every one suffers from pain at one time or the other resulting from injury or disease. In fact pain is an important yardstick by which the status of your health can be told.  Depending upon the nature and cause of pain, pain management can be simple and complex. Pain is the major parameter to judge your state of your physical and mental health.

 What are various kinds of pain?

 Pain can be categorized into acute and chronic pain. Acute pain is sharp. It is a normal sensation that triggers in your nervous system.  Though it lasts for a shorter period (for about three to six months) but has more severity in comparison with chronic pain. If acute pain is not managed properly it can become chronic pain.

 Chronic pain is a lingering pain that sticks with you for a longer period and you have an unpleasant sense of suffering. Chronic pain affects you comparatively for a long period (sometimes for years) and often does not respond to treatments. Generally older adults are most affected by chronic pain that also affects their mental health.

 What are the causes and complications of pain?

 Out of all pains back pain is most common and major reason for people to ask for medical assistance. Pain can occur due to soft tissue injury, broken bones, dental work, surgical (post-operative) pain, burn or cuts. Chronic pain can occur due to an injury, surgery, sprained back, an infection of serious nature, arthritis, cancer, or ear infection.

 Chronic pain is behind headache, low back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain. If you have chronic pain it can affect you both physically and emotionally resulting in unfit mental health. You can feel tension in your muscles, immobility, lack of appetite and energy. Chronic pain makes you feel depressed, angry and anxious.

 How to manage pain?

 There are many pain management techniques available. You can choose one depending upon what works best for you. You can choose medications to relieve yourself of pain. Analgesics (pain relievers and narcotic painkillers) and NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are some of the commonly prescribed pain relieving medicines.

 You should remember that pain relieving medicines may make you feel comfortable and you may feel to be in a good mental health state but the state of your disease remains almost unchanged. You should not resort to indiscriminate use of these medicines since many of them have side effects. Surgery is viewed as the last resort to eliminate pain in a particular joint.

Pain management without drugs

You should tell your doctor about your history. Your doctor may advise that the pain you are suffering can be managed even without the medications. Pain management without drugs is better for your body. Learn about acupressure and its benefits on your body. Acupressure is the great source for relieving you of pain. Acupressure works by rubbing some spots of your body.

 Instead of managing the pain with drugs you can try hot packs (such as a rice bag) or ice packs to relieve yourself of headaches (including migraines) since most of the time headaches are caused by stress and environmental factors.

 Go for full body massage. It will relax you and help in eliminating pain in your body. You will feel less dependent upon medicines. Sit in a quiet room, relax yourself by listening to music or simply focus on something other than pain. That will lower your stress and with reduced stress you may feel relived of pain.

 Make exercise part of your life. It lessens your pain especially if you are suffering from arthritis but do not forget to discuss the exercise plan with your doctor. Warm water therapy can reduce your pain and stiffness. Exercise in a pool or hot tub to get relief from your joint pains. Pain management with drugs is good for your mental health as well.

Things You Should Remember About Pain Management is a post from: Mental Health