Back on Your Feet

I'm excited to announce that my chronic pain relief program has been chosen for an occupational therapy research study!

𝟒 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧

I woke up in pain every day for over 20 years.

Even before I opened my eyes, one body part or another would loudly announce that it was hurting.

Going back to sleep usually made it worse..

So then I would have to get out of bed, even when I didn’t feel like it (which was most of the time!) Then I would start my day, not feeling good–yet again. Ugh!

And the pain would continue for the rest of the day until I went back to sleep.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

In the last few years, though, I've experimented with different ways to get better sleep, even with chronic pain. It has been a journey!

Sometimes I felt like I kept hitting my head against the same wall over and over again.

But I boiled it down to several key actions that have helped me to reduce my pain by 75%+. These have allowed me to get a full night of sleep and even wake up with little to no pain!

After all, sleep is essential to healing and switching the body into “rest and repair mode.”

→ 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝟒 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞:

𝟏. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. Sometimes my mind can be so active during the day that it's hard to wind down. Then I’ll find myself lying awake for hours trying to get my brain to shut up already!

I found that I need to intentionally relax both my body and my mind throughout the day and evening. I use meditation, gentle yoga / stretching, or reading. (Mysteries or dramas keep me up, so a boring book is usually the best bet!) Journaling can also be helpful in-process and release any issues from the day.

𝟐. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. I used to get a second wind around 8pm so I would start doing projects or tasks. But then my brain would get into gear and the ideas would come flying. Or I simply would want to keep working on it until it was done, which could be 11pm or 4am. Best to save it for tomorrow--it's a good reason to get up in the morning!

𝟑. 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬. Keep a pen and a notepad next to your bed for any brilliant ideas that come as you drift off. I know that my brain will get keep me up until I write them down!

𝟒. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬. It’s not a good idea to have any digital devices in the bedroom. But in the worst-case scenario, if you can’t sleep, and nothing else is working, try sleep music. You can do a search on Youtube for "healing sleep music," "relaxing sleep music," or "sleep music for pain." There are a ton of great options!

I also love the "Nothing Much Happens" podcast--bedtime stories for adults where, well, nothing much happens.

→ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. I invite you to test out which of these strategies makes the most difference for you. Then make a checklist and put it somewhere visible as a reminder.

Getting better sleep was one of the last things that I focused on to heal myself. Doing this helped me to finally bring my pain level down from an 8 to a 0-2 on a daily basis. (I wish I had done it sooner!)

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 "𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩" 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 “𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩” 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐃𝐌.

P.S. This post is #1 of 5 from my Better Sleep, Less Pain series.

If you want more info about how to get better sleep and reduce your pain, join my FB group Solving Chronic Pain: https://www.facebook.com/groups/solvingchronicpain

I love it when my clients get better!💙 Kriss had chronic back pain for 27 years, and in a very short time, we brought it down from a 7 to a 2.

If you have chronic pain, and you want to learn more about how we can work together to reduce or eliminate it, comment "yes" below or in a direct message (DM.)