4 Alternative Treatments For Chronic Pain

Living with chronic pain is so hard and it affects every aspect of your lives. Simple things that people take for granted become so difficult and a lot of people living with chronic pain feel very isolated because they can’t always participate in normal social events. If you want to improve your quality of life, it’s important that you find ways to manage your pain effectively. There are certain medications that you can use and maybe even surgery in some cases but a lot of people find that those methods don’t work for them. If you have already tried medication and surgery and it hasn’t worked, you should try some of these alternatives instead. 

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Acupuncture
In the past, acupuncture was not considered a serious treatment but in recent years, more research has been going into it and it is more widely accepted. It’s a great treatment that works for a lot of different ailments, including chronic pain. While it has been shown to work very well, researchers are not quite sure why. One theory is that it releases pain numbing chemicals in the body or that it may block the pain signals. Regardless of how it works, regular acupuncture sessions are an effective way to manage chronic pain so it’s worth a try. 

Neurofeedback Therapy
Chronic pain is often partly a mental issue and while the pain is there, the psychological element of it can make the symptoms worse. If that is the case, neurofeedback therapy could be a big help here. It’s a treatment that reads brain signals and then attempts to reorganize those signals. It can have an impact on the makeup of your brain and relieve some of your symptoms. It will not eliminate the pain entirely but it can help to manage the pain more effectively. 

Herbs And Spices
Pain medication might not work for you, but you should try some more natural alternatives like herbs and spices. Things like cumin and turmeric have long been used for pain relief in eastern medicines and they could make a difference for you. You can add these spices to your food easily but you can also get supplements that contain the active ingredients. 

Exercise
When people are living with chronic pain, they tend to avoid exercise. It makes sense because they assume that it is going to make the pain worse but that isn’t always the case. When you are not active, your muscles and joints can seize up and that may cause more pain. But if you exercise regularly, it can help to relieve your pain slightly and help you to build your strength. However, you do need to be careful because if you start pushing yourself too much, you can make the pain worse. It’s best to go with low impact exercises like walking and swimming, and avoid anything too excessive like running. 

If medication and surgery have not helped to deal with your chronic pain, you don’t need to give up. These alternatives may be a lot more effective for you.