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Patients around the world are learning that pain does not have to be a part of their lives. From lower back pain to spinal stenosis, there are proven ways to decrease, if not eradicate, the pain from their lives. Read on to learn how Dr. Clement Yeh is helping patients say goodbye to the various forms of pain.
Psychological Methods
Patients can use new healthy attitudes to assist with pain. Cognitive-behavioural therapy shows the relationship between pain and how it is affected by thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and activities. Talking it out with a professional and using CBT allows someone to change things around them.
Relax training teaches how to get completely relaxed to relieve pain. Meditation is a part of this type of training and encourages a good way to centre the mind. To try meditation, the patient only needs to sit down, focus on breathing, count to 10 and relax. Most practitioners also recommend patients start out slowly doing it for just a few minutes and then increase the time. Positive imagery can take someone to a happy place by imagining anywhere they enjoy going; keeping focused on the wonderful feelings are key to making the whole experience work.
Physical Methods
A physical therapist will use several methods to help with pain; they will show exercises that can ease the pain while strengthening the body. Those who assist with movement often recommend yoga to suitable patients, practising yoga or tai chi also helps with improving the mind and body. In addition, they have heat and cold therapies to use as ice packs. For some pain, ultrasound can be an option as it aids with healing in select cases. A physical therapist will also use massage as a way to ease tension in a selected area.
Medication
There are a wide variety of drugs available for pain management because different levels of pain require different medications to treat the problem. For mild pain, over the counter medications and creams usually work perfectly, these choices include acetaminophen and ibuprofen or NSAIDs. Both help with pain but only the ibuprofen or NSAIDs treats inflammation throughout the body. There is also prescription-strength NSAIDs to address more severe cases, creams or sprays are put on the skin in the problem area. There are many prescription medications for moderate and severe pain with antidepressants that are used for chronic pain. This type of medication allows someone to feel more relaxed as they assist with the management. It takes time for these medications to build in the system, so anyone who chooses them should be aware that their effects are far from instantaneous. Corticosteroids work on the more difficult cases of inflammation and can be taken by mouth or as an injection. Prednisone is one of the corticosteroids, but this type of drug is given for only a short time. Opioids are prescribed for severe pain. Doctors will try other treatments before giving this medication as it is a highly addictive solution that should only be used briefly.
Home Remedies
There are a few things to try at home that might help the pain in conjunction with approved treatments. RICE is used for pain in the limbs,it stands for rest, ice, compress, and elevation. Hot water is a good way to find relief. A hot bath also relaxes the body and gets the blood flowing. Through it all, getting the proper amount of rest is valuable as sleep helps the body heal. Also, work on eating healthy to make sure any treatment works out as planned. A good diet makes the body healthy, with the body healthy it is better able to take on any pain.
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