Fighting Pain During Its Awareness Month
By Brandi Goodman
Pain Awareness Month takes place in September. The goal is to encourage everyone to learn just how pain affects you. Not everyone experiences pain in the same way or for the same reason. Understanding the underlying culprits and learning how to manage your pain with more natural methods is important. With a few tips, you can learn to fight pain during pain awareness month and continue managing and even preventing it long after.
Try Stretches and Exercise
When you're in pain, the last thing on your mind is probably exercising. Many people just want to lay in bed and sleep the pain away. However, some pain stems from a lack of movement, poor posture, and unhealthy habits that affect the body. If you have discomfort in your joints or feel stiff and sore, you should try stretching and exercise before anything. Loosening up your body and getting your blood flowing can help.
Certain stretches will work better for different areas. You may want to perform a quad stretch if your leg is bothering you, and a bridge if your hips or lower back are hurting. Also, be sure to use proper form when trying an exercise so you don't worsen the problem or cause a new one. Safety is key.
Get Hydrated
Headaches, joint pain, and other types of aches can sometimes be helped with water. Get hydrated and ensure your body has enough water for all your bodily systems to run efficiently. A lack of hydration can cause a lot of discomfort in a lot of ways. If you're feeling achy, drink a bottle of water and see how you feel in a half hour.
See the Chiropractor
Chiropractic care may also work well to ease your discomfort. Even the smallest subluxation can throw your body out of whack. If you're feeling sore in a particular area and hydration, stretching, and exercise do not work, then visit a chiropractor and see if they can help. Correcting a joint restriction could help minimize the ache.
Chiropractic also helps improve sleep quality in many circumstances. If you find yourself tossing and turning with an aching back or neck, then a visit to the chiropractor could help to ease your tension and return you to a normal sleep pattern.
Pain is a problem for many. Rather than masking it with over-the-counter medications, try some natural approaches first. You want to get to the root of the problem and make changes to help prevent these types of aches in the future. Masking your pain will only allow it to worsen over time because you haven't conquered it -- you've only quieted it.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Huntsville, Ala.