Working Through The Pain
“Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.”
Literally. Some days just getting out of bed is a battle, much less summoning the energy and motivation to get to work and be positive and friendly to everyone around you, who may not see your invisible pain (or care, for that matter). And it sucks, because, if you’re like me, you don’t want to lay in bed. You don’t want the pity, you don’t really want to hideaway under your covers, although it can be tempting at times. Because you’re not lazy and it’s hard to fight the urge to label yourself that way when you go down because you’re hurting.
Imagine waking up on the wrong side of the bed the majority of the time, simply because you hurt and pain affects your mood and mojo. It’s no fun..
Let’s face it: if you’re a human being on planet Earth, it can feel tempting to stay in bed. Factor in chronic pain and some of the issues that can coincide with it (like depression) and your morning routine can get tricky. Imagine waking up on the wrong side of the bed the majority of the time, simply because you hurt and pain affects your mood and mojo. It’s no fun. So there’s a temptation to imagine various scenarios in your head, mostly involving procrastinating, hiding, or otherwise justifying why you can’t possible make it through this day. Tomorrow, maybe. But not today.
Distraction may release natural opioids, which play a key role in pain relief
And sometimes you can’t. Sometimes you simply must listen to your body and really rest. As in sleep and unplug, not simply migrate from your laptop to your smartphone (though I’m guilty as charged). Other times, though, before you give up, consider this: an academic study, published in Current Biology, has revealed how distraction can reduce pain — and it’s not purely psychological. They found that distraction causes a physiological cascade of events that work not just on the brain but on the spinal cord. Distraction may release natural opioids, which play a key role in pain relief, according to the study’s authors. And according to Fox News, “a number of past studies have shown that distraction (or attention) is highly effective in altering our experience of pain. Some studies showed that distraction interferes with pain perception while other studies show that pain increases when it is the focus of our attention.” In other words, sometimes working through the pain is the best way to distract yourself from the pain, especially if your work is more mental than physical (for obvious reasons).
It’s a catch-22 scenario, because oftentimes staying home won’t do anything about the pain (except make you think about it more) and it’s easy to feel guilty (or lazy, or depressed) if this becomes a habit rather than an exception. Plus, those around you who can’t “see” your pain may start to grow frustrated. Not just your friends and family, but your boss and/co-workers probably won’t always understand… if you’re not in the right professional situation, absences don’t exactly make certain hearts grow fonder. Even if you work through and around the pain — enabling it to drive you, not depress you, but optimizing your lifestyle around your physical realities so you can still succeed just as good as the next lady or gentleman!
I’m always taking a couple hours to prepare not only my body, but my mood and my focus.
For me, I’ve developed a routine where I know I need to go to bed fairly early and wake up early enough so that I can have time to meditate, drink my coffee, spend some time with my wife and daughters, read, stretch and generally start with light positive tunes and then work my way up depending on how much mojo I need to create… Sometimes I even throw in a salt bath. All of this typically before 8am and I’m out the door. I usually take a couple hours to prepare not only my body, but my mood and my focus. It’s not always easy and I don’t always succeed, but I’ve found being aware (physically and emotionally), particularly in the mornings, can set the tone for the rest of the day. You have a choice, most of the time: give up or adapt.
With the above being said, all the memes, articles and pick-me-ups in the world are only worth so much. Based on my own experiences with chronic pain, it’s a journey and the key is simply to not give up.
Your journey managing chronic pain is obviously going to be personal, but here’s a laundry list of things (in no particular order) to consider and explore (consulting your doctor and licensed practitioners, of course). This is simply based on my personal experience over the years to give you some directions to pursue. I’ve had to (and continue to) experiment with various strategies and therapies. Let me know if you want to know more about a particular strategy and I’d be happy to share my experience, if I have one to share!
- Modern Medicine
- Alternative/Traditional Medicine
- Massage
- Salt Baths & Floating
- Supplements
- Acupuncture
- Medicinal Marijuana
- Meditation / Mindfullness / Hypnosis
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Treat Depression
- Listen to Music
- Manage your Mornings
- Spirituality / Religion
- Give Yourself a Break — last, but not least, remember that most “mission critical things” aren’t really mission critical, we just build them up in our heads as such. As an unknown author so poignantly said: “Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.” Don’t forget to not take yourself so seriously, cut yourself some slack and give yourself breaks to minimize the ups and downs and maximize balance.
Finally, this is just a start — how do YOU deal with chronic pain? How does it affect your work?
And keep in mind, support abounds. Many solid organizations specialize in providing information about chronic pain, including the American Chronic Pain Association, the National Pain Foundation, the American Pain Society, the American Pain Foundation, the National Fibromyalgia Association and the National M.S. Society.
Plus, I’m here. Reach out if you need someone to talk with!
Written by Robby Berthume and published on January 28, 2016 via LinkedIn Pulse. Re-published on April 18, 2016 on Medium. Contact me by clicking here.
