Friday, January 15, 2016

Dealing With Chronic Pain #1


I am following up on one of my posts, blogging tips to help you cope with chronic pain.

As a kid, I was a daredevil/tomboy/klutz. I loved sports winning those Physical Award patches you sew to your gym clothes in Junior High. One year I won five which didn't make me too popular with the other girls.

That's okay, I could outrun them.

Hiking, swimming, climbing, bike riding, gymnastics were some of my favorite things. I was as fit as a teenage girl could be.

As time went by and I grew older piling up one accident after another I started to feel pain. At first, it was back pain. I was sent to chiropractors,  physical therapy sessions, lots of x-rays.

I remember getting an x-ray of my back in my late twenties. I'm sitting there waiting for the Doctor to come out and here he comes down the aisle with my x-ray.

He asks me if I had ever been in an auto accident. I replied no that I hadn't but had been in a rough relationship where I got bounced around a lot. On the left-hand side of my spine, ever vertebra was checked with his pen showing cracks.

So let's fast forward to now. I tried working right up to where I just couldn't work comfortably anymore, my boss and Doctor suggesting I apply for Disability which went against the grain but I finally did apply.

I have gone to a couple of Chronic Care self-help classes which I'm going to share with you. I hope I can relieve or give suggestions for never-ending pain. Of course, you have your good and bad days like anything else.

Helpful Hint # 1-

WAKING UP
Try some stretching and strengthening exercises while you are still in bed.

Get a clock radio and set it to awaken you with music rather than an alarm. Some can wake up with a pre-recorded tape of your choice. Record the tape with your own "pep talk."

I will follow up with more WAKING UP tips on my next post.

This is from the Soft covered book Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions.

My word # 2
Adroit: clever, resourceful
Used in a sentence- I would like to be as adroit as you are.

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