Chronic Physical Pain

Chronic Physical Pain Strategies in the Home

There are many words to describe pain: aching, throbbing, burning, shooting, stabbing, sharp, hot, nagging, dull, tender, sore, excruciating, and tingling just to name a few.

Pain is often measured on a scale of 1-10. It can be difficult to assign it a number. Sometimes the intensity varies over the course of the day and sometimes it remains consistent.

Pain can be short term or it can be considered chronic if it lasts for longer than three months. Pain can affect wellbeing and independence when it lasts a long time. It has emotional components as well as physical. It can affect relationships with loved ones.

Pain has many causes and it can affect any area of the body or head:

Low Back Pain

Neck Pain

Joint Pain

Jaw pain

Muscle Pain

Arthritis Pain

Peripheral Neuropathy

Pain can make it burdensome to leave the house. Pain can affect independence, mobility, and activities of daily living. It can also affect one’s mood. Compassion and a variety of interdisciplinary strategies and interventions are needed when working with chronic pain at home.

Since every patient probably experiences pain a little differently even when the diagnosis is identical; every plan of care should be customized.

A strong thorough nurse assessment with a compassionate listening ear is a key to success along with collaboration with the doctor.

Social workers can help with depression, coping strategies, emotional support, resources, and more.

Physical Therapy

Targeted massage

Muscle manipulation

Exercise to strengthen muscles around painful joints

Graded exposure to movement

Exercises to loosen stiff joints and limbs

Hot packs

Ice packs

Clarifying baseline functional status and developing realistic goals

Compensation strategies

Strengthening different muscle groups

Rest, Heat, Ice, Prescribed medications, and Topical gels may work in combination with therapy interventions

Occupational Therapy Interventions:

Maximizing independence with Activities of Daily Living

Restore daily routine

Modify body positions for comfort and ease with tasks or rest

Adaptive equipment and tools to allow one to do more with less aggravation of painful areas

If pain is interfering with quality of life for you or a loved one please contact Axiom Home Care today to ask if our team can help 734-324-3166.