Managing Pain During a Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has probably had a great effect on your life. Activities you once enjoyed may be impossible to do now and your schedule may have completely changed. And even though it’s been over a year since social distancing started, it looks like it may be quite awhile before things reach “normal”. Many with chronic pain understand that the key to managing and reducing pain is heavily dependent on having a good routine and sticking to it. After more than a year of living during pandemic conditions, how would you evaluate your routine now? How are you managing your pain? Has your pain improved or gotten worse?
If you feel like your routine is still out of whack and you aren’t managing pain as well as you’d like, what can you do now to get where you want to be? This article will discuss some of the challenges and potential solutions you can try for yourself. With some effort and fresh perspective, you can thrive even during this pandemic!
The Ideal Approach to Self-Treat Chronic Pain
Pandemics aside, the best way to treat persistent pain is with a biopsychosocial approach. The biopsychosocial model states that pain is influenced, not just by our biology (nerves, tissues, bones, inflammation etc.), but also by our thought patterns, our emotional health, our social relationships and our environment like in our family, our work or our greater community. When there are problems in one or more of these three categories pain can become worse. That’s why the pandemic has thrown many for a loop. World conditions may effect your thought patterns, your level of stress and emotional wellbeing, and you may have experienced big changes to your social relationships. Are you working from home? Have you been unable to visit or see loved ones? Although we cannot magically change our current circumstances, we can maximize our biology, our mental health and even our environment.
Maximize Your Biology
Before the pandemic, you may have had a good exercise routine and tried to stay relatively fit. With gyms closed down, you may have fallen off the wagon. There’s still a lot you can do to take care of your tissues, keep your nervous system happy and prevent spikes of inflammation. Here are some ideas:
Start a walking program
Movement is one of the key ingredients to overall health and pain reduction. Sadly, the pandemic has caused a lot of people to move less. You can counteract it simply by moving more and sitting less. Sitting for long periods of time has a lot of negative consequences to the body, not to mention, it can trigger flare-ups for many people. So start walking every day. If you feel out of shape, you can work your way up slowly. Can you work your way up to walking 1-2 hours a day? It doesn’t have to be all at once. In fact, frequent, shorter duration walks may be more helpful than one really long walk.
2. Prioritize nutrition
The worse your diet, the more inflammation you will probably have. Current pain research shows that inflammation from immune system activity can provoke the nervous system to create pain. But it can be so easy to fall into the habit of eating lots of sugary, processed foods and high quantities other pro-inflammatory foods like meat and dairy. Without as busy of a schedule like before the pandemic, you may feel less motivated to eat healthily and regularly. To counteract this, keep yourself on a solid eating schedule. Instead of eating whenever you feel like it, have a set breakfast, lunch and dinner schedule. Prioritize plant-based foods at every meal including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes and whole grains. This will help improve your own circadian rhythms, which influence how much energy you have and how much sleep you get.
3. Start a home garden
Growing your own fruits and vegetables can save money, increase relaxation and contribute to a healthy diet. Even if you live in an apartment, there are products on the market that can help you grow foods indoors with minimal space requirements. It’s more fun to eat fruits and vegetables when you’ve grown them yourself.
4. Set a bedtime
Maybe your work schedule has completely changed and you don’t have to set the alarm clock anymore. Without a consistent bedtime, though, your body’s natural circadian rhythms can become unpredictable which may cause poor sleep quality. Sleep deprivation tends to enhance pain, anxiety and depression. So hold yourself to a solid bedtime, wake up on time, eat on a schedule and give your body a feeling of normalcy.
Take Care of Your Mental Health
The pandemic has been stressful. You’ve experienced it so we don’t need to discuss all the ways it has provoked stress. Too much stress, though, can trigger flare-ups, make flare-ups last longer and decrease your emotional capacity to handle them successfully. Here are some mental self-care tips for better pain management:
1. Stay connected to family and friends
It’s easy to isolate yourself from the world but, with modern technology, keeping in touch with loved ones is still possible. Frequently talk to your family members and friends. Tell them how you are feeling. Listen to them as well. By being an empathetic person and an active listener you can “light up” the empathy circuits of your brain. This can improve the way you feel, shift focus away from your own struggles, and improve your emotional connection to others. Not to mention, it also helps other people. Remember, everyone has had to struggle during this unprecedented time.
2. Take up a hobby
Self-improvement can be a valuable use of time when done in a balanced way. If you have more time on your hands, keeping your mind and body active is crucial for preventing and managing flare-ups. Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn to do? Is there something that’s always called to you but you never had time for it? Perhaps now would be a good time to invest some mental energy into a rewarding and refreshing hobby or activity.
3. Quiet time is not the same as screen time
Quiet time for self-reflection, deep breathing or other mindful activities can reduce chronic pain and mental anxiety. Although modern technology can be helpful, it’s also resulted in overuse of electronics, television, and social media. Now “quiet time” for many has become endlessly surfing the internet, scrolling through social media or watching Youtube videos. Without true quiet time, the nervous system can stay on “high alert” and be more easily provoked into creating feelings of anxiety or pain. Take time every day to mentally reset, self-reflect and unplug from the digitized world!
Control Your Environment
It is true that, at times, you may have little control over the environment you’re in. But most of the time, you have great influence over your immediate environment or have the ability to deal with an unchangeable environment more successfully. Here are several practical ways to improve this crucial aspect of your life:
1. Balance your use of technology
As mentioned earlier, technology is a two-edged sword. Using it to stay connected to family and friends is so important, but technology overuse can be problematic. How do you stay in balance? Give yourself a daily “allowance” of screen time. When you run out, unplug and engage in another activity. If you work from home or do other important activities on a screen, save screen time for those uses and not recreation.
2. Create a good sleep environment
Good health and persistent pain reduction are impossible without quality sleep. Keep your bedroom cool. This allows you to reach deep stages of restorative sleep. Unplug from electronics at least an hour before bed. Blue light from devices can impede your ability to reach deep sleep. Even if you are asleep, that doesn’t mean you are in deep, restorative sleep. Look for ways in which you can make your bedroom more relaxing, organized and peaceful.
3. Expand your horizons
Being stuck at home can feel very limiting. If it’s safe for you, find ways of getting outside while practicing social distancing. Are there nature walks or hikes nearby that allow you to social distance? If so, explore your community and get outside as much as possible. Sunlight and fresh air are not to be underestimated. If you have a health condition that keeps you at home, spend time in your yard. Do whatever you can to get sunlight and fresh air. It can have a big impact on your mood, energy, pain and more.
Managing pain during a pandemic can be very challenging but it’s not impossible! You can even reduce your pain during this time with a good plan and consistent effort. Admittedly, there’s no handbook for how to thrive during a pandemic. Everyone is learning as they go. But human health and pain management is all about a biopsychosocial approach, regardless of a pandemic or not. All of these techniques you can do independently but you might find that even after doing all of this, you still are not managing pain the way you want to. That may be a sign to look for a good professional for some outside help. I wish you the best! Stay safe, do your best, be patient with yourself and stick to a plan!
*This article is not intended as specific medical advice.
*This article was reviewed by a licensed clinical psychologist .