The Marquis de All The Knives (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
balsamandash) wrote2016-01-29 08:39 am
balsamandash) wrote2016-01-29 08:39 am
Advice on dealing with pain?
So -- people who have issues with pain; what do you do to get yourself through bad pain periods? Particularly when you have work/physically demanding responsibilities that you can't skip or put off until pain is gone?
I have chronic/reoccuring pain of some kind in... practically every part of my body -- feet, legs, back, stomach, chest, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, jaw, temples, headaches, wow this list is worse than I expected when I actually write it out. It's been a particularly bad couple of weeks for it; I'm bad at quantifying pain but I'd say my average for this month is quite a bit worse than my average in general. I work on my feet all nigh, picking up and moving around heavy boxes and then doing repetitive motions that cause pain in my arms even on days there previously wasn't any.
And I am terrible at coping mechanisms or finding things to make the pain better. (Massage generally helps but is not something I have daily access to or anything right now. Being warm helps so I'm picking up something long-sleeved I can wear during work to keep myself from getting as chilly, but that only does so much good.)
So if you deal with anything like this, share what works for you? Either for getting through the period of having to do things or ways to help ease the pain after getting home/before leaving/when I happen to have a decent chunk of time? I would really appreciate the advice.
I have chronic/reoccuring pain of some kind in... practically every part of my body -- feet, legs, back, stomach, chest, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, jaw, temples, headaches, wow this list is worse than I expected when I actually write it out. It's been a particularly bad couple of weeks for it; I'm bad at quantifying pain but I'd say my average for this month is quite a bit worse than my average in general. I work on my feet all nigh, picking up and moving around heavy boxes and then doing repetitive motions that cause pain in my arms even on days there previously wasn't any.
And I am terrible at coping mechanisms or finding things to make the pain better. (Massage generally helps but is not something I have daily access to or anything right now. Being warm helps so I'm picking up something long-sleeved I can wear during work to keep myself from getting as chilly, but that only does so much good.)
So if you deal with anything like this, share what works for you? Either for getting through the period of having to do things or ways to help ease the pain after getting home/before leaving/when I happen to have a decent chunk of time? I would really appreciate the advice.
no subject
Use the therma-care type 'bandages' that are self-sticking heat pads on your larger muscle groups. OR, if you get relief from them, rub down with Aspercreme or Icy Hot or whatever muscle rub that you prefer. Never put a heat pack over an area you recently used the muscle rub on; it can cause chemical burns.
Take time for recovery after work. Hot bath/shower, alternating ice and heat on worst areas, or self-massage at the areas you can reach.
I worked third-shift merchandising and inventory control for several years. These are things I did to manage (S.I. joint dysfunction plus permanent disalignment of pelvic girdle and sacrum with lowest vertebrae affected, plus micro tears in both rotator cuffs). It never stopped hurting. But these things made it a little more bearable. And mostly I tended to bullshit myself that it wasn't killing me, so I could pretend to my staff that I was fine.