Inflammation and chronic pain, an intricate dance.
Many people don’t realise that chronic pain in joints or elsewhere in the body could be caused by chronic inflammation. If you want a bit more of an overview of chronic inflammation, check out my first blog in this series here.
Whether it's persistent joint discomfort, recurring headaches, or lingering backaches, chronic pain can often be traced back to underlying inflammation in the body. Yes, you can pop a pill to get temporary relief but you aren’t solving the core problem and it will most likely return.
Persistent inflammation can lead to tissue damage, nerve sensitisation, and can alter pain processing pathways, and all of this contributes to the development of chronic pain conditions.
It’s not a pill, but if you embrace a holistic approach that targets inflammation, you can pave the way for sustainable pain management and potentially even improved well-being.
Below are some suggestions on how to live a lifestyle that will help reduce pain by reducing inflammation in the body. I would suggest you don’t change your whole lifestyle overnight but choose one that you feel you could integrate and start there. Slow and small changes are the ones that stick.
Holistic Approaches to Inflammation and Pain Management:
Anti-Inflammatory Diet:
This one is key. You could follow all the other tips but if you eat badly, you’ll only end up putting fuel onto your inflammation fire and keep the pain going. Embrace an anti-inflammatory diet rich in whole, nutrient-dense foods that can help quell inflammation and support tissue repair. Prioritise colourful fruits and vegetables, fatty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids like salmon or trout, healthy fats such as olive oil and avocado, and antioxidant-rich herbs and spices like turmeric and ginger. Minimise or avoid inflammatory foods such as processed sugars, refined carbohydrates, gluten, dairy and trans fats, which can exacerbate inflammation and pain. Again, check out my first blog here that focuses that has a lot more detail as well as my anti-inflammatory recipes here.
2. Regular Movement:
Engage in regular physical activity to combat inflammation and promote pain relief. Choose low-impact exercises like walking, swimming, pilates, or yoga, which can improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and enhance mood by boosting endorphin levels. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week to reap the benefits. I do yoga for 20mins most mornings and try to walk a bit after dinner.
3. Stress Reduction Techniques:
Now we can all relate to stress given our high pressured roles. Chronic stress can fuel inflammation and exacerbate pain perception, which is why reducing stress is so important to pain relief too. Incorporate mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, or guided imagery into your daily routine to promote relaxation, resilience, and emotional well-being. There are so many apps these days that help with this. Insight Timer, Calm or Breathe to name a few.
4. Quality Sleep:
Yes, this little nugget. I can’t tell you how important it is to prioritise restorative sleep to reduce inflammation and therefore help with pain management. All the usual sleep tips apply, establish a consistent sleep schedule, create a calming bedtime routine, and optimise your sleep environment, eat at least 2-3 hours before going to bed, try and avoid high protein meals (like beef) and of course sugar and alcohol at night. Adequate sleep is crucial for regulating inflammatory processes, promoting tissue healing, and enhancing pain tolerance.
5. Mind-Body Practices:
Explore mind-body practices such as meditation, tai chi, qigong, or biofeedback therapy to modulate inflammation and alleviate pain. These practices can promote relaxation, reduce stress-related inflammation, and enhance the body's natural healing mechanisms.
Embracing Holistic Healing:
It might sound like a lot of work if you haven’t tried these approaches in your life before, but I promise, it’s so worth it. You don’t want to be popping pills for the rest of your life…and this way, you might not need to! You can support yourself to heal and to reduce inflammation and pain.
I saw what happens when you are in pain and start taking pills and the slippery slope this leads to with my grandmother. She started with pain meds, then had to take other pills to combat the side-effects of the pain meds and then more to combat those side effects. Nightmare! She ended up on over 20 pills a day!!! She was unhappy and really changed as a person on all these pills. Such a sad way to spend the last few years of her life. I promised myself I’d never go there. Which is why I’m so passionate about this subject and wanting to get the message out there.
So take a look at that list above. Chose one thing today that you’ll incorporate. Remember, small and consistent is the key to sustaining lifestyle changes!
Put the mask on you first, create an anti-inflammatory lifestyle and thrive again!
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