All this may be difficult enough for adults to handle – it may be overwhelming for children and their parents who are trying to help them through the crisis.

According to this article, Controlling Pain Can Speed Recovery For Children With Cancer, there are ways that children may cope with pain, in addition to pain medication, and that their parents can help them.

1-  Talk to your child about what he or she is thinking or feeling. Make talking about feelings a regular activity so your child knows that if you’re approached, you’ll listen.

2-  Educate your child appropriately for his or her level. Explain to your child what is going on at an age-appropriate level. If he or she has an idea of what is happening, the pain may not be so scary. Don’t forget that children have a unique way of believing that they caused something, including pain and illness sometimes.

3-  Don’t minimize or deny the pain. Pain is pain and how much it hurts is very individual. You have some people who can walk on a broken ankle, others who feel the slightest cut or scratch. Also, don’t forget that your experience isn’t the same experience that your child is going through.

4-  Touch your child. If your child doesn’t want to be touched because it is yet another stimulus that he or she can’t handle, find ways to be close. But if you can, try to make some skin contact somehow, even if it’s just touching a forearm or a foot.

5- Stay with your child. While many procedures require the parents to be out of the room, this is often more because the parents get too stressed out. If you can manage seeing your child get poked with yet another needle or go through another painful test, try to get permission to go in with your child.

6-  Talk about ways pain can be controlled. If your child is waiting for a nurse to bring a scheduled dose of pain reliever, remind your child that he or she may have the medication every so many hours. If the pain medication doesn’t seem to be working, remind your child that you both have the power to ask the doctor about trying something else.

7- Avoid showing your own reactions if they’re not positive. If you gasp, cry out, wince, show any signs of negative reaction to your child’s pain, your child will remember that and that will be a reference point.

8- Support your child’s coping mechanism. It may not be your idea of a way to cope with pain, but if your child wants to watch the same movie over and over again, or just walk back and forth, allow your child that choice.

9-  Avoid being part of the team if your child needs to be held down for a procedure. Unfortunately, this may happen if your child is too small to stay still on his or her own or can’t cooperate. But if you help, your child may see you as one of the reasons for the pain.

10- Don’t get angry at your child or scold him or her, especially in terms of “it’s not so bad, you shouldn’t complain so much,” and so on.

Do you have any tips to add?

~~~~~

Images: StockXchng.com

Post from: Blisstree

10 Tips to Help Kids Manage Pain

I don’t look like there’s anything wrong with me. If you saw me you wouldn’t know that I’m in pain. Everyday activities are challenging and I never know how my body will feel from one day to the next. Simple things, like laundry and dishes, become impossible some days, barely tolerable others.

I live with Fibromyalgia.

Image: istockphoto

I hurt my back in a fall eleven years ago. For many years I dealt with trying to learn how to live with the chronic pain from it. I tried everything; medication, injections, physical therapy. Nothing helped; my doctors finally told me I’d have to live with it.

About five years ago my pain changed. It moved through my body, it moved beyond my back. It felt all-consuming. Some doctors told me that it was ‘referred’ pain, my back still the cause of it. Others told me that it was in my head.

A move brought a new doctor. One who listened carefully to me, beyond just my medical records. And he was able to diagnose the Fibromyalgia. It was both frightening and a relief. It was nice to have an answer, to know I was right thinking there was something else going on. But it was frightening getting a diagnosis that had no solution. I’m glad it’s not more serious, it’s not life threatening. But it has changed my life.

There are medications out now for Fibromyalgia, unfortunately they didn’t work for me. Over the last couple of years I’ve learned to live with it, gained some coping skills that give me the best chance of functioning as normally as I can.

The most important thing, and the hardest, was accepting it. I hurt and that’s not going to change. I listen to my body, if I push it too far it will be worse. I’ve learned what time of day I feel best and I schedule myself accordingly. I’ve made my surroundings as accommodating as I can–everything from what shelf towels are on to how I sit at my computer.

It’s easiest at home; it gets harder out in public. I don’t look ill and I’m not elderly. It’s hard asking for help lifting things. I’ve gotten more than a few raised eyebrows. I look like I should be able to lift a case of water or put the groceries in the car. I didn’t ask for help for a long time, it felt like giving in to something I didn’t want to admit had so much control over me. I learned the hard way, lifting that case of water made me hurt more. My mind needed to accept it to help my body feel the best it can.

Fibromyalgia is a challenge, but it can be manageable. With acceptance and awareness I function better now than I did when I was first diagnosed. I have good days and bad days, but now I feel like I have some control over all of them.

For further information about Fibromyalgia, check the Mayo Clinic website.

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The Invisible Illness

You can read more about the study findings in the press release: New self-management program offers significant benefits for arthritis patients with chronic pain.

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UK ‘Challenging Pain’ program showing good results for managing arthritis pain

Uncontrolled pain makes life very difficult sometimes. Feeling that your doctor isn’t helping manage it properly is frustrating. Besides changing doctors or trying to educate your doctor about what you need, there isn’t much you can do.

One of the problems with doctors and adequate pain control is the fear of using opioids or narcotics. The fear stems from concern that patients may become addicted but it also stems from doctors not really understanding what opioids to prescribe, at what doses to prescribe them, and how often they can be given.

To address this, The Federation of State Medical Boards Research and Education Foundation (FSMB) in the United States has made available a new handbook with the goal of improving both acute and chronic care management. The handbook, Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Physician’s Guide, are to be distributed country-wide and can be customized for each state in respect to their laws and regulations.

Here’s to hoping that this makes a difference in some lives.

Post from: Blisstree

Do you think your doctor could do a better job of managing your pain?

Most people who are being treated for chronic pain are treated by their family doctor or their specialist for their specific disorder, but sometimes, that isn’t enough. There often comes a time when you need to go a step further and be seen by a doctor who specializes in pain management. That’s not to say that your doctor can’t do the job, but the pain management specialists can help find and organize a pain control regimen that your own doctor may not have considered.

Who is this pain specialist? The anesthesiologists.

Most people only think of anesthesiologists as the doctors who put you to sleep for surgery, but their specialty goes well beyond that. Anesthesiologists have spent many years studying pain and its causes, and they have developed techniques that help reduce that pain, if not eliminate it altogether.

If you do visit an anesthesiologist, usually at a pain clinic, you still keep your own family doctor or specialist. The anesthesiologist’s role is to help find you a good program to follow and then the continued care goes back to your doctor, with follow-ups with the anesthesiologist if necessary. Your own doctor can also use the pain clinic as a resource when needed.

Why can’t your own doctor do this? Doctors who don’t deal with high levels of chronic pain don’t usually have the experience and education to treat it. When someone specializes in a specific area, like pain management, they go to conferences, take courses, read journals, exchange information, do research, and so on, in the field. They become the experts. So, they become the go-to people for unrelenting pain.

When you first go to a pain control clinic or an anesthesiologist’s office, you will have to give a very detailed medical history. All medications that you take and have taken are very important. Even medications that are herbal or natural must be mentioned because drugs that your doctor prescribes may interact  with them.

While it may seem extreme to bring in a pain expert, he or she becomes another member of your healthcare team, with the goal of helping you live your life to its fullest.

Before you leave, please take our poll, What type of chronic pain do you have?  And don’t forget to leave a comment or email me if there is a particular topic or angle you would like to see covered in this blog.

Post from: Blisstree

Doctors who specialize in pain management

It’s Christmas Eve and many families and friends are getting together to celebrate this holiday. Something that can take the joy right out of holiday gatherings is suffering from pain – or just the fear that the pain may come on while you are celebrating.

Here are some tips to try to help you make the holiday season a bit more bearable.

If you have sore fingers from arthritis, it can be very painful to shake hands. If this is the case, try not shaking hands at all. A polite tip of the head to acknowledge a greeting or introduction is often enough, especially if it’s done with a smile. If your hands are full – all the better! If it’s only one hand that is sore, you can offer the other, even if it does seem to be different from what you are used to. Finally, if a hand is offered, you can always say that your hand is sore and you can’t shake hands. Most people will understand.

If you have a chronic illness like chronic fatigue syndrome, get as much rest as possible before the get-togethers. Try to limit the amount of time you are out and allow yourself to get rested again after. Don’t try to do it all.

Headaches can be a big issue during the holiday season. Whether they are migraines, tension headaches, or just plain headaches, they can put a real damper on the celebrations. If you have preventative medications, be sure to take them as directed. If you know your triggers, this is an important time to avoid them as much as possible. It’s important to eat well always, but more importantly when you are really busy and running around from place to place. If you begin to slack off on good food, this could bring on a headache. And – absolutely – don’t let yourself get dehydrated. Drink plenty of water throughout the day so you’re not caught short by the time you are out visiting. And remember, if you’re going to drink alcohol, it’s the dehydration that will bring the headaches on, so get yourself some water in between those drinks too.

Other aches and pains that can happen include injuries – so be careful if trying out a new sport or activity, and don’t let the holiday spirit make you think you are years younger than you are. In other words, know your limits.

Staying pain-free or managing your pain will help make the holidays all that more memorable. Good luck!

Post from: Blisstree

Avoiding pain during the holidays

However, pain causes more than just discomfort, it can cause a delay in healing or return to regular activities. If someone is experiencing a lot of pain, they may not get up and move around as much as they should, which can delay healing or even cause other problems. So, managing pain is essential.

A new study, published in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, reports that a 20-minute evening back massage, in addition to regular pain medications, may help relieve pain, as well as reduce anxiety after major surgery.The researchers found although there was no difference in the length of hospital stay, long-term anxiety, or amount of medications used, the patients who received 20-minute back massages “experienced short-term (preintervention vs. postintervention) decreases in pain intensity, pain unpleasantness and anxiety.” The patients also experienced a faster rate of pain relief within the first four days after surgery.

For the nurses who read this blog, remember the patient care and back rubs we were taught were so important? Many times, they had to fall by the wayside because of limitations on time and resources, but we knew that a quiet time with our patients and a good back rub always helped our patients settle down.  

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Helping relieve pain through massage