Tips For Managing Your Pain

No one likes to be in pain, whether it is coming from your back, knee, hand, or somewhere else. But pain can be helpful, as it serves as a warning that you’re overusing part of your body and need to slow down or rest completely.

There are a wide variety of medications and other therapies which can be used to control pain while you are healing. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of them, and provide some tips for how to better manage your pain.

Controlling Acute Pain Begins with Anti-Inflammatories

Acute pain comes on quickly, from either an injury or surgery, and is usually short-term.

A good way to control acute pain from an injury is to use supportive therapy known as RICE (rest, icing, compression, and elevating the affected area) along with taking an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen, says Tom Weigel, MD, interim chief medical officer at Blue Cross. 

Inflammation usually happens for three to four days and then tapers off, he says. As the pain improves, you should use less of the anti-inflammatory medication. The pain may last anywhere from a few days to six to eight weeks, depending on the severity of the injury.

In some cases, like having a kidney stone or being in a car accident, the acute pain can be severe. Even in those situations, Dr. Weigel says, the correct treatment is anti-inflammatory medications. Your doctor may prescribe a stronger anti-inflammatory to help with severe pain.

A type of drug called an opioid can be prescribed by doctors for severe pain, such as after surgery. Opioids can be useful on a short-term basis, Dr. Weigel says. “The problem with opioids is that people respond to them differently.” Some people have responses to opioids where the pain actually gets worse, he adds, and so they may not be appropriate for all people. 

Doctors have been reducing opioid use by choosing other pain management methods. There are now better pain blocking therapies for surgical procedures, Dr. Weigel says. “You can get a longer acting local anesthetic that lasts for a while and go home with anti-inflammatories and never need opioids,” he says.

In hospital emergency rooms, doctors are now giving patients anti-inflammatories for kidney stone pain, and it works better than using opioids, he adds.

Comprehensive Program Helps Members with Chronic Pain 

Unlike short-term acute pain, chronic pain is something people may endure for months, even years. Chronic pain can be so bad that it makes it difficult for people to function in their daily lives.

To help members with their chronic pain, Blue Cross has built a Comprehensive Pain Program in partnership with the UVM Medical Center. The program is now being expanded across Vermont.

The program’s focus is not medication oriented, Dr. Weigel says. Instead, treatment centers on functional rehabilitation, physical therapy, and specific types of mental health therapies – all provided in a team-based environment. The Comprehensive Pain Program features “specific therapies around pain that help people to live better with pain, as well as integrative therapies,” he says. Acupuncture, Reiki, and massage are used in the program. “All of these may have some impact on the experience of pain for people which has been helpful,” Dr. Weigel says.

Physical Therapy Can Reduce or Eliminate Pain

If your pain is from a physical cause, such as an injury or overuse, then getting into a physical therapy program can be an excellent way to reduce or eliminate the pain.

When recovering from an injury, it is important to continue to move so that you don’t lose function, range of motion, or strength in a joint or your muscles. “Physical therapy has been proven to more rapidly return people to their usual state of health, and over time it’s reduced pain,” Dr. Weigel says.

But to be successful, you need to do the right movements as prescribed by a physical therapist, based on your injury. A physical therapist will help you create a rehabilitation program in which you can slowly regain your function and strength. 

Physical therapy is successful most of the time and most patients visit a physical therapist less than eight times, Dr. Weigel says. However, he cautions that physical therapy needs to be done as part of a larger treatment plan in coordination with your primary care provider.