Do you have any great self-management tips?

Share your self-management tips, tricks and techniques with the community!

[colboy]

i was luck enough to go to a pain clinic and they have told me that it's better to pace yourself every time if you are in a lot of pain which work's for me I can judge when I am going to get a problem, and when the pain signal start to hurt I stop what I am doing and put on some relaxing music, lie down and take the pressure of my spine and chill out, and let my mind take me to a better place remembering grandchildren playing in my garden a fab holiday memory but think of something other than pain, It works for me try it.

[Cazie50]

Mindfulness works for me very well, but I must admit I do find it difficult to put aside the time as I'm still trying to maintain a full-time job and I'm completely exhausted, so all I really want to do is fall asleep!

I bought "Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world" which comes with a really good CD that I've put on my mp3 player and "Living Well With Pain And Illness: The mindful way to free yourself from suffering".

[disney-girl]

As Cazie has said. Mindfulness has been really useful. I try hard not to catastrophise things. Stay in the present and only try to manage what is actually happening in that moment.

I am also learning the art of pacing. This has been difficult as I am very independent. However, I am now finding that I am experiencing less flare ups and can now manage my activities rather than my activities managing me

[Hidden]

Pacing - I remembered when I started it, the house was in perpetual tidy up mode. I enlisted my happy helpers to get it finished.

Nowadays I break tasks up into small sections and get on with it with short breaks, sometimes rotating 2 or 3 tasks depending on what they are, so that they are all finished in a day.

Mindfulness is also helpful - its a bit like being in fog - all that is immediately around you is in focus and very clear and easy to concentrate on, but things in the distance are blurry and cloudy looking. It shouldn't need much time - its about focusing on nature and exploring activities to the full.

Look at your flowers and concentrate on the colours and patterns when you open your curtains in the morning. Listen to the noise of the kettle when you fill it and it boils. Breath in and enjoy the perfume of your shower gel. There are so many things that don't take time but can be appreciated along the way.

I like meditation and my favourite is thinking of the pain as a colour and change the colour to switch the pain off. It gets very psychedelic and I often come out of it with a hang over but I love the colours.

I play computer games. I find it therapeutic to concentrate on a simple task such as finding objects in a picture, or doing crosswords. Only 5 - 10 mins at a time as this is ideal length of time to change thought patterns about the pain. I then get on with what I was doing in a better frame of mind.

[ladybear]

I love and support the answers given here. I recently went to a Pain Clinic and they taught us how to question the use of painkillers and their side effects which can cause so many other problems. The most powerful thing was looking at the difficulties of chronic pain in a different way....ensuring the mind and body are treated in unison ...using breathing/relaxation/colours/music/and lifestyle adjustments and management. A whole new way of approaching life has really worked towards controlling my pain to my utter amazement. There are many books in the public Library that give a wealth of information and techniques.

[teadrinker]

I have written down a list of things that help in a flare up. It's so easy to get in a panic and forget what to do. it might seem silly to have to write myself a note to remember to take medication, but I have got much better at this since doing it! I have included practical things like using heat packs & stretching, and have also written down little phrases that help, like, "this is only a blip," and "it's fine if the housework doesn't get done today". There's also a list of things that are good distractions so that I don't sit there dwelling on it

I call it my Pain First Aid Kit.

[mossycow]

Intersting that housework come up here so much - if I could tidy the house just with mind control it would be emaculate!

My tip would be comedy distraction.... i have a playlist on yutube of good, often dirty and un pC comedy. the type that makes you laugh out loud (and wake up your bed partner....). The distraction helps.. evne if just for a few minutes/seconds.

I would saying what helps me the most is my husband remineding me that the house is for living in not for cleaning.

Agree with panic- hard not to get anxious and andrenaline moving... I find concentrating on a project helps. Something that invovles less movement...

[Hidden]

My daughter went to the Cleveland Clinic Pain management clinic for a month and the most important thing she needs to do is move a muscle move through the pain. She arrived there in a well chair and left running 2 miles a day and working out with weights twice daily.