Chronic pain can be a large and uncomfortable barrier to living a happy, enjoyable life, but with effective pain management, it can be mitigated. When you can no longer get up and move, engage with the world, and enjoy yourself while doing it because pain has become too big of a barrier, it’s time to seek help from medical professionals.
When it comes to your pain management plan and care team, there are a few things you should look for to ensure they’re helping you on your path to your best, most healthy, most complete self. We’ve shared what five things to look for in a pain management plan and pain clinic below.
Independence and Pain Management
Chronic pain often leaves patients relying on others for help living their day-to-day lives. When evaluating your pain specialist and their treatment plan, look for strategies that can help you gain some independence back. While it’s nice to have help when you really need it, doing small things on your own again will boost your confidence, decrease anxiety, and will lessen the impact that pain has on your life.
Mobility
The more you’re able to move around, the more you’re able to engage with the people, places and things that matter most to you. Mobility is a huge factor when it comes to quality of life. When consulting with a pain specialist about your pain management plan, be sure that their treatment is allowing you to go places. Whether that’s a few small steps down the driveway, driving to the store, or using public transportation, value the plans that allow you to move.
Interaction
One of the biggest factors to our overall happiness is our relationships with others. However, being in pain can make you withdraw from your social circles, and in worse cases, prevent you from seeing loved ones or even showing up for work. This cycle never ends, as the more you pull away, the more depressed and detached you become, causing you to pull away even more.
When evaluating your pain management plan with your pain specialist, seek out treatments that encourage you to get emotional support and bond with others. This will help you break out of a negative psychological cycle while you work to heal or manage your pain.
Validation
Especially if you’ve been suffering from chronic pain over a number of years, validation that your pain is real, despite it not showing up on scans or lab work, is a pivotal first step to healing. It can be incredibly isolating when the people you love or even medical professionals don’t take your pain seriously because it cannot be explained by tests, and it’s even more difficult to cope when those around you can’t know what you go through on a daily basis.
When evaluating your pain specialist or management plan, be sure your experience is being validated. And while it can feel isolating, remember that over 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, so you are not alone.
Love
While this may sound a bit funny, love–the ability to receive it and to give it–is one of the most fundamental human emotions. To truly be fulfilled in life, you need the ability to exchange love with others. Too often, pain is an obstacle to sharing and receiving love. Living with chronic pain can mean losing out on social bonds, intimacy, romance and so much more. When it comes to evaluating your pain management plan, if it isn’t allowing you to bring more love into your daily life, consider an alternative.
Chronic Pain Houston: Minivasive Pain and Orthopedics
At Minivasive Pain, we have a dedicated staff of pain management specialists. It is our mission to treat the causes of your pain with both the highest standards of care and quality. With several pain management centers throughout the Houston area, caring for your pain is what we do every day. To learn more, or to schedule an appointment, visit https://minivasivepain.com/contact-us/ or call us at (346) 800-6001.