From Wikihow.com

Handling severe pain can be distressful and difficult. Sometimes pain can happen suddenly and unexpectedly, and sometimes the pain comes from an existing condition or illness. Either way, there are ways to help you handle severe and excruciating pain. Stay focused on controlling your pain and find the techniques that work best for you.

Head injuries are among the more serious injuries you can sustain in an accident or physical episode. They take quite a bit of time to heal, can affect all areas of the body – depending on the injury in question – and may result in chronic pain, depending on the extent of the injury. Dealing with a head injury of any type takes patience and a willingness to endure medical intervention on many levels, including frequent check-ups with a doctor, physical therapy to overcome chronic pain and sometimes even a rearrangement of lifestyle choices to accommodate the injury and the result of it.

Working closely with your family physician is a start to this process. This is the person that can guide you through the healing process and suggest the proper medications and healing techniques that you can utilize until you get well. This is also the person to whom you can go for advice as you deal with the repercussions of the head injury.

Additionally, get as engaged in any physical therapy you are undergoing as well, whether it’s prescribed by your doctor or self-induced. The harder you work to overcome the effects of a traumatic injury, the sooner you will see results and the more encouraged you will be about the process overall.

However, one of the most important things about dealing with head injuries is facing the chronic pain that often accompanies them. Because the brain controls the rest of the body, you may be facing both physical and emotional pain elsewhere that you hadn’t experienced before. For instance, many head injury patients tend to have chronic heads, back pain and other forms of chronic pain. Nerve damage can also occur from a head injury, depending on where the injury occurred and what other parts of the body were affected as a result. In fact, the more areas of your body injured and impacted, the more likely it is that you will face lasting and chronic pain.

Because this pain is lasting, these patients tend to get frustrated and set themselves back emotionally in the healing process as a result. Understanding where this pain is coming from and learning how to deal with it on a regular basis can facilitate a healthier attitude about dealing with chronic pain and the time it may take for your head injury to heal properly. Depression is also a common side effect of chronic pain, so it is important to be aware of what the signs of depression are and seek medical attention if you feel down or blue for more than a few days. There are a number of medications on the market that can help you to function, even if temporarily, as you deal with a new life that includes chronic pain.

Relaxation techniques are also generally helpful for dealing with chronic pain, whether this pain was caused by a head injury or not. Massage therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic care and restorative exercises are all great ways to keep the body moving after a head injury. However, it is always advisable to talk over these plans with your doctor before embarking on a new plan in order to ensure that it is safe for you to do. If the doctor gives you the green light, then choose an activity that both moves your body and soothes your mind. This is a great way to deal with chronic pain without letting it get the best of you.

Head injuries can be scary and residual effects even more so; the more educated you are about your injury, the more involved in your care plan and the more willing you are to fight to overcome it, the better your chances of a full recovery. Chronic pain can be a lasting effect of your injury and it can be life-changing, but that doesn’t have to be for the negative. Dealing with chronic pain can leave you a stronger individual than you were before your injury, taking on challenges and completing them with strength you never knew you had.

Do you ever notice that when your distracted from pain you tend to feel a bit less? Maybe you went on vacation and felt a little less pain than before.  Florida pain management physician, Dr. Pyles, suggests some fun to take you mind off of the stress that chronic pain can bring. It’s quite remarkable how our brain processes pain, and how effective distraction can be.

Austrailian hospitals are using a remarkable new treatment that effectively tricks the brain of an injured patient into thinking their problem has deteriorated or gone away.

Austin Health physiotherapist Anne Daly said the technique, which involves the use of mirrors, was helping patients recover from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a grueling condition that causes unrelenting pain in a person’s limb, usually after they have suffered an injury.

She said research showed that getting patients with the syndrome to practice exercises with both their non-affected and affected limbs while looking in a mirror had helped to reprogram the cause of their syndrome deep within their brains. – BrisbaneTimes.com

This new mirror technique of pain management has been shown to significantly reduce pain in “around a third of the patients” that uses this as a form of chronic pain treatment. The therapy is also used for patients who have lost limbs and suffer from “phantom limb pain” where the brain sends faulty signals to a limb that is no longer there.

Back Packs and Back Pain

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this a few hundred times before, but back pain affects over 35 million Americans, including many Florida residents. It is one of the most prevalent chronic pain conditions that U.S. adults face every single day. Whether it’s because you sit at a computer all day, your are in construction or you serve at a restaurant all day, back pain affects us all.

Statistics show that this form of pain is the single most common reason for missed work, and the second most common reason for visiting the doctor. So, as the kids head back to school,  let’s take some time to investigate and provide solutions to backpacks and back pain and getting off on the right foot.

Back To School

These days many Florida schools do not have one set of books for home and a separate set of books for school, it’s just one set of books that kids have to lug from one place to another in their backpacks. Those backpacks get heavy, uneven, and tattered quite easily, and with no lockers to use either it’s up to the strength of backs to carry the weight.

According to the American Physical Therapy Association, the weight of your child’s backpack should not exceed 15% of total body weight. If your child is carrying a heavy load, perhaps too many books or school supplies, it can place a great deal of strain on the muscles that support the back, thus leading to back and even shoulder pain. If the weight is too heavy, the backpack can actually pull the child backwards, in which the child will compensate by leaning forward at the hips or arching the back. This can cause the back to compress unnaturally, leading to increased pain. As with adults, many kids will not share this pain with their parents, and will just “tough it out,” assuming it’s just a part of being a student.

Do what you can to educate your child on the risks of wearing their backpack over just one shoulder. Sure, it has always been the ‘cool’ way to wear a backpack, but it is also the most detrimental in terms of throwing out vertebra in the back and placing unnecessary weight on back muscles.  Because the backpack weight is unstable and unbalanced, one side of the body, one side of the back muscles, and one shoulder will take all of the strain.

Wearing the backpack too low on the back can put increased pressure on the shoulders and neck muscles, thus affecting the spine and back by increasing an imbalance in the spine.

Finally, if the child has a backpack with tight, narrow straps, those straps can interfere with circulation and nerves within the shoulder. This can cause pain, tingling, even numbness.

The Perfect Backpack

Having the right backpack, the right length straps and the right amount of weight within the backpack can save your child a lot of strain and irritability. In order to avoid back pain, the child must wear the backpack on both shoulders, keep the weight light, and maintain balance at all times.

A canvas backpack is always better than leather or plastic, as it will conform to the back and maintain balance better. The backpack straps must be adjustable, and at least two inches wide to evenly distribute the weight. The backpack should have individualized compartments in various locations to help evenly distribute the weight as well. If your child is required to carry books from class to class, as many are these days, you’ll need a backpack with a hip strap or waist belt to redistribute the weight from the shoulders and back to the pelvis. Finally, if possible, use a backpack with wheels so that you can avoid wearing one altogether.

With the kids back to school, they might be too excited, or nervous, to mention how heavy their backpacks are getting. They might try to tough out the pain or the struggling. But if you notice any increased irritability or tenderness in the back, start looking to your physician for back pain suggestions.