Turning pain into gain!

Chronic pain from neurological conditions such as cervical dystonia (link-scroll down to ‘do drugs help’) and also some other forms of dystonia may be difficult to live with. It can change the direction of our life. This does not always mean for the worse. If you experience chronic pain from dystonia or some other cause, perhaps a combination of chronic diseases such as dystonia and arthritis or some other form of degenerative bone disease, relief is available .

Pain is our body’s way of telling us something is not quite right. Apart from minor bumps, scratches and small pains requiring minor relief available from a pharmacy, pain basically falls into two categories. Firstly, acute pain is sharp and severe requiring immediate emergency intervention. Secondly, long term pain or chronic pain becomes part of our life. Like all areas of ongoing situations in life, we need to plan for chronic pain. Pain requires management that not only controls the actual pain and discomfort but enhances our lifestyle.

Exercise and diet are important components to managing pain. Good general health and a positive mental and emotional outlook on life are essential for managing pain control and enjoying life. Reducing anxiety through relaxation and meditation is a helpful approach. Physiotherapy by a physiotherapist trained in techniques specific to your medical and or neurological condition may be helpful. Regardless of which physical, emotional and spiritual remedies you choose your treating specialist in consultation with your family doctor and other allied health workers are the people to be talking with about your pain control and medication management program.

Some medications can actually intensify discomfort and pain. It is possible to overdose, even on medication we think of as being very safe, such as paracetamol . Using codeine for long periods of time or unsupervised may lead to dependence, addiction or other serious medical side effects.

I hope this article is helpful. Please take time to return to the links above and save to your files if they are useful. If you would like to leave a comment or email me directly, you are most welcome. I will get back to you. Also, take the time to check out the links on Cairns and Australia below. They will take you from one end of Australia to the other! I hope you enjoy them.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia. (s.j.bayliss@bigpond.com.au)