The cycle of pain

Acceptance is not about giving up, but accepting that the pain will remain with you and is not curable is certainly a challenge. You will become more accepting as you start to focus on goals and the way you want your life to be now.

Learn more about pain and treatment.

Planning, prioritising and pacing involves identifying the most important things to be done and steadily managing how you do them. This can help with controlling pain and flare-ups.

Learn more about getting fitter and healthier.

On days with less pain, it’s very common to fall into an unhelpful trap of over-doing or ‘trying to keep up’  patterns. Learning to find your personal balance of activity and relaxation will mean less frequent and less severe pain flare-ups, which will lead to a better life.

Learn more about pacing and managing flare-ups.

Getting stronger and more active can help you feel less tired, boost your confidence and reduce and manage your pain better. It’s very easy to over-do activities and have pain flare ups so focus on a plan and start with easy to achieve goals.

Learn more about getting fitter and healthier.

Treatments can be an important part of the care package. While  they will never completely cure your pain, they can help you to become more active and healthy and manage your pain better.

Learn more about treatments.

Making healthy eating choices can not only help you lose weight but can reduce your risk of serious illness such as heart disease, stroke and cancer, as well as help with depression, anxiety and moods swings. Eating small meals regularly through the day rather than skipping breakfast helps the body become less stressed, tired and painful

Learn more about getting fitter and healthier.

Relaxation can help reduce feelings of anger, anxiety and negative thoughts and people living with pain have found it a very useful coping tool. Pacing your daily activities also helps to ease the stress of pain. And when you do overdo things, it is very useful to have a setback plan or two.

Learn more about managing moods.

Sleep is one of the most common problems for those with persistent pain, affecting 1 in 3 people. It is possible to get into better sleep patterns through a mix of balancing daily activities, relaxation techniques and learning to deal with negative thoughts.

Learn more about sleep and tiredness.

Frustration, fear, anger and irritability are all very common emotions if you are in pain. There are some very good self-help tools and information available to help you understand difficult emotions and how to deal with them. If you are fitter, balance activities everyday so you are less tired and have less pain. You will find that setbacks become much shorter and less severe.

Learn more about managing moods.

Being worried and anxious can lead to even more pain. It helps to understand how stressful emotions affect your thinking and what you do - and to learn to unwind the body and mind through relaxation. Being clear about needs and issues caused by your pain and how it affects you and your life can really help make things easier.

Learn more about managing moods.

An action plan helps to balance activities every day.  Start with easy-to-achieve goals or activities then prioritise the goals into three parts - activities that must be done today, those that could be done in the next few days and any that need not be done or could be done by others. Get active and set easy goals  to build towards success.

Learn more about life and relationship issues.