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Because it can degrade your daily life , your physical and emotional well-being , pain must be recognized and taken care of . In particular chronic pain , whether associated with a chronic pathology (fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis , migraine, endometriosis ), with an accident or with long-term treatment ( chemotherapy , radiotherapy ). In this article, discover our 6 tips for preventing , reducing and living better with chronic pain.
1 – Understand your pain
By understanding your pain, you can try to adopt daily behaviors to anticipate or limit it . For example, if you have identified that you start to have back pain after an hour of standing still, you can make lifestyle changes to avoid these situations.
2 – Ask your doctor
Never hesitate to talk to your doctor about pain that does not go away. The first step will be to make a diagnosis , without which no appropriate care will be offered to you.
If your pain is caused by a chronic pathology already identified, your doctor will offer you treatment to relieve you or will adjust the dosage if you are already receiving treatment:
systemic treatments : analgesic drugs. They can be level 1, 2 or 3.
local treatments in the form of cream, patch or injection.
If you are in diagnostic error (unable to understand the origin of your pain), the diagnostic investigation must be continued while exploring all options to limit your pain .
3 – Get closer to patient associations
Patient associations are the ideal place to share your experience , gather information from other patients who are sometimes experts in their illness and enrich each other. There you can discover treatments that you have not yet tried or be kept informed of available clinical trials .
Joining a patient association also allows you to feel less alone and understood by people who know what you are going through because they are going through it too. This emotional support is valuable for living better with chronic pain.
4 – Go to a center dedicated to pain
In France, there are 2 systems for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain:
Pain Assessment and Treatment Centers ( CETD ) , also called Pain Centers .
Chronic Pain Management Structures ( SDC ) . They are equipped with hospitalization beds, unlike the Pain Centers.
You cannot go directly to a CETD or SDC: you need a prescription from your doctor. Note that there are consultations and centers specific to children .
In any case, these devices are not intended for patients suffering from acute pain following a fracture or an atack of appendicitis, for example.
5 – Consider non-drug treatments
Faced with pain resistant to any drug treatment or in addition to these treatments, several non-drug approaches can be explored. Their indications are very different depending on the cause of the pain , if it can be identified. This may include hypnosis , acupuncture , wellness massage , osteopathy , etc. Remember to inform your doctor if you use these complementary and alternative medicines .
6 – Seek a second medical opinion
No treatment relieves your pain? Firstly, it is essential to verify the accuracy of the diagnosis , and therefore to have verified the causes of the pain, without which no appropriate treatment can be offered. You can then request a second medical opinion from a hyper-specialist in your pathology or from an algologist , a pain specialist. The opinion can be obtained during a physical consultation or directly online on the basis of your medical file via a platform such as deuxiemeavis.fr for example.
