Managing with Pain Management – give Senior Health a Boost

Some seniors think that pain comes together with years, but this is does not have to be the case. The senior population should report pain as would anyone in any other age bracket.  Senior living should be a lovely and enriched experience. Seniors deserve it – so let’s not let pain move in!

For some, increasing frailty and chronic illness make pain more likely. Others suffer from headaches, backaches, arthritis pain or pain caused by nerve damage. The field of pain management has been sown with many seedlings. Medicine has developed so much over the years.

What tips can we pluck off the tree of medical knowledge and put in our baskets?

Ten Pointers to help Manage Pain:

It might be handy to know these 10 pointers:

• Pain should not be ignored. If your body is talking to you, take the time to listen.
• Keep in mind positive thinking – things change, things can improve. Getting treatment will often help.
• Pain that continues for more than 6 months is called chronic pain.
• Talk to a doctor if the pain interferes with your life.
• There are studies indicate that eating certain foods can help combat pain and other sources list foods that make pain worse.
• Left, right left, right! Walking more can help reduce pain. Exercise increases release of the endorphin hormones, bringing pain relief.
• Acupuncture is increasing in popularity. There is evidence that it might help for pain and even postoperative issues.
• Sleeping enough and keeping to a good sleep schedule can help with pain for anyone, including seniors. For seniors who have a hard time sleeping in any case, it might help to ask the doctor what to take.
• Read up about how taking your mind off the pain helps with pain management on neurological level, since your brain can’t process pain as well as the other distraction.
• If you choose to keep a pain record, note what type of pain it is and how it feels, how it effects your life and what seems to make it better or worse.

A sample of the crop

This is just a sampling of the wealth of information that is available on senior health issues, especially pain management and pain relief.

Often, when making a plan against pain, a person will use several different techniques and approaches, simultaneously.

When dealing with pain, perseverance is a key tool. The fact that there are so many diverse treatments available means that you can try it and if you don’t like it you can move on to something different. Pain management will always be one of the important issues in senior health. Here’s to choosing a good strategy!

Whatever you do, try to keep a smile handy!

Let’s coin a term – a smile a day keeps the doctor away !