Almost everyone suffers from pain at some point in their lives. But it can become an ongoing issue that prevents you from sleeping well, eating right and enjoying time with friends. Fortunately, you can get relief from chronic pain. It would be best if you found the right clinic. These centers specialize in treating the whole patient.
Physical Therapy
Chronic pain is discomfort lasting longer than a normal healing time after an injury or health condition. It may be “on and off” or constant and interfere with work, family, and social/leisure activities. Longstanding health problems like arthritis or fibromyalgia often cause it. The main form of treatment for persistent pain is physical therapy. Pain clinic Jacksonville FL, therapists can provide several non-drug treatments to manage pain, such as exercise, acupuncture, and relaxation training. The goal of these techniques is to change the way your nervous system responds to physical pain. This involves teaching relaxation techniques, changing old beliefs about pain, and building new coping skills. It also includes teaching you how to improve your posture and movement patterns so you do not strain your body so much. Your therapist can also teach you better ways to use your body for work, play, and household chores. Ultimately, this will help to reduce your pain and improve your overall function.
Occupational Therapy
Chronic pain can rob people of productivity and make even the most basic tasks daunting. It can also affect sleep, mood and relationships with friends and family. You can learn better pain management techniques from a pain specialist, enhancing your quality of life. This includes guiding you to listen to your body and pace yourself. They can also assist you in avoiding activities that will aggravate your pain. First, a comprehensive medical history and physical examination will be performed. They may order lab or imaging tests to find the source of your pain. They will then discuss treatment options, including medication, surgery, alternative therapies or cognitive-behavioral therapy. They will also help you build healthy lifestyle habits, such as eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep. These are known as ‘interventions’ and can help you cope with chronic pain. They can also be used with your pain management medications to help you benefit most from them.
Counseling
While a doctor treating an injury or illness that causes pain is the first step, people suffering from chronic pain should also see a therapist specializing in mental health. Many primary care settings and pain clinics employ specially educated therapists to deal with pain-related difficulties. Counseling or psychotherapy aims to help the client or patient learn new skills for living with pain. This can include teaching them how to better communicate with their family about their pain, helping them build a support system and learning new tools for managing their pain, such as distraction techniques and activity pacing. In addition, a therapist can help the client or patient understand how their thoughts, emotions and behaviors may contribute to pain. They can teach them to accept the pain better, refocus their attention on something positive, and learn not to judge or compare it to others’ pain experiences.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a sort of psychotherapy that might help those who are suffering from chronic pain. It can help address underlying issues like depression and anxiety contributing to the pain. It also teaches patients ways to manage their pain better and improve their quality of life. Psychologists that treat patients with chronic pain utilize techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) that have undergone extensive research and are quite effective. They teach patients to change their beliefs about pain, build coping skills and learn to relax. In addition to CBT, psychologists specializing in treating people with chronic pain can use mindfulness-based stress reduction, a form of meditation that involves learning to become aware of your thoughts and feelings nonjudgmentally. Finding a therapist with chronic pain experience is important because it differs from treating other mental health problems.