Avoid Flares in Chronic Pain

by Tricia Delzell, MD, Advanced MMC, Inc.
www.advancedmmc.com

Times of isolation such as winter, illness, and COVID quarantine can cause a pain flare of our old muscle and joint injuries. It is important to keep moving even when you feel like staying still. Even if scar tissue has been minimized, pain associated with the scar can still resurface when you get out of your rhythm and routine. It is best for your physical and mental health to avoid large fluctuations in your pain cycle.

Here are some tips to avoid, or minimize, those painful flareups:

• Avoid the hibernation trap of excessive sitting.
• Drink at least 3 bottles of water/day.
• Make a list of temporary nonpharmaceutical pain relievers that have worked for you in the past. Keep the list handy if you need a quick reminder. That list might include:
  • Heat
  • Massage
  • Light therapy
  • Self-trigger-point release
  • Electrical Stimulations
  • Topical Creams or Gels
  • Teas
  • Set up an area in your home where you can exercise, stretch, and roll out your muscles.
  • If you have chronic muscle pain, keep your muscles as warm as possible.
  • If you are chronically cold, your muscles will tense up and worsen your chronic pain.
  • Use YouTube videos for meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga to help relax your muscles.
  • Try hot tea to keep you warm from the inside out.

 

Tips to optimize muscle wellness:

• Dynamically stretching before exercise. This means instead of holding a still stretch you would slowly stretch your muscles with motion, such as walking lunges or slow neck rolling
• Save stretches that you hold for 5-10 sec for after exercise when your muscles are warm and supple.
• Use foam rollers (soft-medium are preferred) after you exercise and stretch to further remodel any scar tissue in the soft tissues and to bring blood flow into the areas of tenderness or stiffness. The blood flow will bring in natural healing substances to prevent further injury.
• Heat after exercising will also increase blood flow to help heal any damaged tissue. Moist heat tends to penetrate deeper than dry heat.
• Don’t overdo the degree or time of applied heat to avoid skin injury.

 

Daily stretches are a great way to keep your body supple and your mind focused. The stretches detailed below can be done multiple times a day and only take 3-5 minutes of your time! Remember don’t over stretch, everyone’s body is different, and your body may change day to day (some days more flexible than other days).

• Try to make sure your muscles are warmed up before stretching
• Follow it up with some foam rolling.
• Finish up with some hot tea and a hot bath!

 

EXAMPLES OF DAILY STRETCHES FOR WELL BEING

The best time to stretch is after exercise when the muscles are warmed up. Make sure your posture is aligned from head to toe before beginning. Hold each stretch 10-30 sec each side.

ARMS	LEGS