Techniques that everybody can try
Herman considers pacing to be one of the crucial helpful self-management tools: “Most everybody realizes that should you do an excessive amount of, you’re going to have a flare-up or relapse.”
The U.S. Pain Foundation conducted a nationwide survey earlier this yr. 2,275 individuals living with chronic pain responded. Interestingly, when asked, “What techniques, skills, or knowledge do you discover most helpful with regards to self-management?”, 73% of respondents with chronic pain found activity restriction to be probably the most helpful self-management technique.
In keeping with the National Library of Medicine, “Pacing is taken into account to be a multifaceted coping strategy, including broad themes of not only adjusting activities, but in addition planning activities, having consistent activity levels, acceptance of current abilities and step by step increasing activities, and one that features goal setting as a key facet. The goals of activity pacing include to scale back overactivity-underactivity cycling (fluctuating between high and low levels of activity) with a view to improve overall function and reduce the likelihood of exacerbating symptoms.”
One other self-management technique that Herman identifies effective for chronic pain is respiratory, as she finds it’s a simple technique to learn. The London Pain Clinic explains, “Diaphragmatic respiratory has an especially therapeutic effect on chronic pain. It has a significant influence on relaxing the muscles which tense up consequently of pain and in turn further aggravate the pain itself.”
Guided imagery can also be a vital self-management technique that Herman teaches.
“Loads of men, some women, but mostly men, have a tough time doing guided imagery,” she shares. “What I do is just ask them to consider something that they love and that they’re captivated with. This one guy loved fishing, so I told him to picture being in the shop, buying bait, going to the boat, putting the bait on the road, and casting into the water. I guided him through the entire process. At the tip, when he opened his eyes, I said, “How was it?” He said it was good, and I told him he just did guided imagery.”
She adds, “Loads of people get nervous or anxious that they aren’t going to do it right or that it’s not going to work. So it’s really about attempting to work with any person to see what they are going to accept after which developing the skill to suit them.”
