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Integrative Pain Management - what you can do on your own

Jeffrey Taekman

I attended the two-day NIH Pain Consortium Symposium on Whole Patient Health. There were some engaging sessions. Interestingly, there was not a single session on the impact of the microbiome on pain--maybe someday!?! The two-day symposium had me thinking about simple, low-risk interventions anyone can do to help modulate their pain.

Chronic pain affects up to 30% of the population. Although pain physiology is quite complex, inflammation plays a significant role. Thus, lifestyle interventions that target inflammation should have some impact on overall pain perception.

Individuals can maximize the effectiveness of pain interventions using a multimodal approach - a wide range of overlapping but distinct non-pharmacological interventions. Multimodal therapy is far more successful than single interventions.

Although some of the evidence-based non-pharmacological approaches require scheduling of professionals (e.g. acupuncture and massage), some of the effective interventions are simple enough to begin right away, on your own:

  • Focus on the quality of your diet
    • Minimize or eliminate pro-inflammatory foods from your diet. These include sugar, processed carbohydrates, and emulsifiers.
    • Eat an anti-inflammatory diet (e.g. Mediterranean) - focus, especially on fiber, as the microbiome converts these prebiotics into potent anti-inflammatory agents (short-chain fatty acids - SCFAs).
  • Get adequate sleep
  • Minimize stress through mind-body interventions, counseling, and changes in the environment
  • Move your body - exercise, even mild, has potent anti-inflammatory effects
  • Stop smoking and stop drinking alcohol

Start with one improvement and build on your success by adding others. Remember, pain management, like wellness, is a lifelong endeavor. Take your time.

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