Nearly one-quarter of adults in the United States report chronic pain. Like millions of other Americans, you’ve been affected by pain that has placed more than a few limitations on your life, and you don’t want these limitations to interfere with enjoying time with family and friends this holiday season.
As pain management experts, Dr. Jeffrey Glaser and Dr. John Zheng, are here to help you make your way through the holidays with more smiles than pain. To that end, our Glaser Pain Relief Center team is using this post to review some best practices for managing chronic pain when you’re traveling through the holiday season.
One of the best strategies when it comes to managing back pain or neck pain is to stay one step ahead of it — you don’t want to be playing catch-up with pain. Before your holiday travels start to enter full-swing mode, it’s a good idea to see us to make sure you have all of the tools you need to keep your pain at a minimum over the holidays.
For example, during this visit, we can determine whether an interventional injection is in order, which can make quick work of pain and inflammation, especially if you have long flights or road trips ahead. We offer several different injections including:
If an injection isn’t applicable, we can make sure that your pain management toolkit is complete with the right medications.
Outside of medications and treatments, we can also go over strategies to help you manage the pain on your own, such as the next few tips.
The link between stress and pain is a close one. One recent study reports: “Evidence suggests that pain and stress not only feed into but exacerbate each other through a ‘vicious cycle.’ ”
If you combine this knowledge with the understanding that holidays can be stressful, it’s little wonder that stress management is an important piece of your pain management puzzle over the holiday season.
If you’re feeling stressed by holiday travels, take a time out and do some deep breathing exercises or practice some meditation. Whatever works to calm you, we suggest that you rely on it throughout the holidays to keep stress levels, and pain levels, low.
Pain can strike anywhere, but there are a few areas where it’s more common — nearly 40% of Americans report back pain, 36.5% report lower limb pain, and more than 30% have upper limb pain.
If your pain is chronic and due to degenerative conditions like arthritis, a little movement can really help with pain management. This movement can relieve inflammation and stiffness, which are two major contributors to your discomfort.
We’re not talking about going out and running miles and miles. But make sure that you move your body — go for a nice walk after big meals, for example.
When you’re sleep deprived, it’s no mystery that pain can flare. So, over the holidays, we want you to prioritize sleep.
Make sure you’re getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night. We know it’s fun to stay up and catch up with family you haven’t seen in a while, but don’t lose sleep while doing it. As well, if you’re not sleeping in your own bed, bring along your favorite pillow or whatever else you might like to make yourself more comfortable in a new bed (or couch).
If you’d like some more ideas about keeping your pain at bay over the holidays and while you travel, we’re here to help. Simply contact Glaser Pain Relief Center in Encino, California, to schedule a consultation.
