Advice on dealing with pain?

[balsamandash]

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.

Comments

[thefairymelusine]

here via thebonesofferalletters. I have chronic pain in my joints (especially ankles, knuckles and wrists, which is currently being investigated, but one of the lead suspects is Some Form of Arthritis.) I also have bound my chest regularly for six years, so I have upper back pain related to that

Thinks I have found helpful-

a combination of NSAID painkillers (mostly ibuprofen in my case) and topical painkillers on the areas that hurt worst. (I use isopropryl gel, which apparently is mostly used for sprains/sporting injuries but it is a good and I have been told by my GP is fine to use regularly. Set reminders to take painkillers on your phone if you have problems with that. (In my case, if pain is quite bad I will be less functional and therefore forget to take them)

Hot baths during a pain flare, if it's at a point when you have access to a bath. (And would second the wearing long sleeves/being warm)

Heating pads can be really useful, although you can't use them on an area on which you've also used isopropyl gel.

In my case, pain is either worse when I have done a lot with the areas that hurt, but also first thing in the morning. If you are going to a doc about it have as much detail about stuff like that as possible.

I use a stick when walking most of the time now, and I do find that that reduces the level of pain I'm in later, but I know that might not be an option (and is still an option about which I feel sad)

Oh, if in bad pain before going to sleep I find resting on a comfortable chair/sofa for a while, while sort of dozing off, and then going to bed when pain has died down a bit better than just going straight to bed and lying flat