When the weather is beautiful and the sun is out, pain is particularly frustrating and may affect your mental health. Experts say that you need to be active to reduce pain, but you also need to reduce pain to stay active. These seven easy ways to reduce pain will ensure you enjoy your summer without any discomfort this year.
7 Easy Ways to Reduce Pain and Stay Active This Summer
1. Go for a Walk
Walking is an easy form of exercise that you can use to stay active daily. However, if you live with acute or chronic pain, some forms of exercise may be too dangerous or strenuous. Some of the benefits of walking include improved coordination, stronger bones and muscles, better cardiovascular fitness, and weight management.
You may feel like movement will make the pain worse, but the truth is the exact opposite. So add a short walk to your day, or find another low-impact way to move to manage your pain this summer.
2. Practice Deep Belly Breaths
The vagus nerve stretches from the brain to the colon, influencing many essential bodily functions such as heart rate, inflammation, blood pressure, and digestion. When our vagus nerve is active, it makes us feel safe and connected. It also helps with pain relief.
Studies show that the vagus nerve opposes the established pain matrix and reduces pain by inhibiting inflammation and oxidative stress. In addition, practicing regular deep breaths into your belly will help you tap into your body's natural relaxation systems to help ease the pain.
3. Do Some Laps in the Pool
Running, jumping jacks, tennis, and certain types of dance are common forms of exercise that may put too much strain on the body. If you are recovering from an injury or are in a significant amount of pain, low-impact exercise is a better option for you. Swimming relieves some of the constant weight and pressure on the spine to help relieve low back pain and build up the muscle to get rid of it for good.
4. Take a Yoga Class
This mind-body exercise changes the makeup of your brain, altering the way you feel and perceive pain. It increases grey matter in the hippocampus and front sections of the brain to improve focus, concentration, impulse control, self-awareness, and decision-making.
It also helps people disassociate from the negative feelings and emotions surrounding their pain. Experts have found that people with chronic pain often have increased anxiety levels and lower pain tolerance. By coping with anxiety, you can lessen the connections in the brain, reducing pain perception and pain interference.
5. Eat Fruits and Vegetables
6. Get a Massage
Therapeutic massage has also been found to stimulate competing nerve fibers and impede pain messages to and from the brain. When pain becomes chronic, the pathways from the muscles to the brain have become set in a pain pattern. Massage can help disrupt this pattern to bring lasting relief from chronic pain.
Aside from the direct pain relief from impeding nerve messages and relieving muscle tension, massage helps indirectly by improving the quality of sleep and reducing stress.
7. Try Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient healing tradition that uses hair-thin needles to activate meridian points. Each point ties to a specific organ and line of energy (called a meridian) within the body. The acupuncturist will use a particular configuration of points to target your specific pain patterns and stimulate the body's natural healing systems.
As a holistic remedy, acupuncture can treat a variety of issues simultaneously. Indirectly, acupuncture relieves pain by relaxing the body and mind, easing insomnia, activating the immune system, and balancing hormones.
BONUS: Reduce Pain and Stay Active with Kailo
Disclaimer: Kailo should not be used if you have a pacemaker or if you are pregnant. Always consult your doctor or health care professional before using Kailo.