How to manage your pain

A good night’s sleep, every night, is imperative to keeping the body working and in balance.

• Sleep in a dark, cool room, under a nice warm cover.
• Turn off your cellphone, tablet or TV, and don’t keep them in your bedroom. You should not be disturbed by light or sound while you sleep.
• Avoid stimulating beverages before bedtime, such as Coca-Cola, coffee, tea and alcohol.
• Avoid the regular use of tranquilizers or sleep medication, as it can affect your long-term ability to sleep.
• Avoid high pulse physical activity and work-out late at night, as your body can have a hard time settling afterwards. Instead try going for a slow walk and a breath of fresh air, or to read a good book.
• If you don’t get enough sleep at night, try powernaps or meditation during the day.
• Try emptying your head by way of doing a crossword puzzle or sudoku before you sleep.
• Use guided meditations or relaxation techniques right before you sleep. You can find many on YouTube or other internet-sites.

It is important to keep your body active, but you should not overdo it. Instead listen to the signals your body is sending. They can help you regulate your activity. Also, plan ahead to save energy.

• Signals to look for could be: fatigue, clumsiness, mispronouncing words, lack of memory or concentration, sensitivity to light or sound, short temper, to name a few.
• Pace your everyday activity by doing bits at the time, and the rest in between.
• Do a little every day instead of a lot once a week.
• Get out and get a breath of fresh air and expose yourself to daylight every day.

Sometimes making room for positive things can help you take your mind off the pain.

• Socialize, if it doesn’t drain you too much.
• Read a good book, listen to music, or watch a movie.
• Do a little gardening.
• Play with your children, grandchildren or pet.
• Be mindful that cuddling or sex with your partner can do you good.
• Get a good laugh.
• Do more of what will make you happy.

There are a lot of things you can do to relieve the pain without using painkillers.

During your treatment in Tværfagligt Smertecenter we will discuss this in greater detail.

Below you will find examples of what to do.

• Use heat or cold but remember to protect your skin by using a layer of cloth between your skin and the source of heat or cold.
• Hot bath, sauna or massage can relieve symptoms in joints or musculature.
• Keep yourself warm by using woolen or silky underwear.
• Use relaxation, visualization and meditation techniques, and take a break during the day. You can find a lot of new age music and guidelines on the internet or on YouTube. You can also find CD’s in your public library.

• Be sure to lie well when you rest. Use pillows of a different kind to support you or the painful part of your body.
• When you sit, rest your arms on a pillow to relieve neck and shoulders.
• Change your position often, whether you sit or stand.
• Change what you do often to avoid overburdening one specific group of muscles or joints.
• Use a backpack or a ‘bag on wheels’ when you go shopping.
• Consider buying an electric bicycle, to replace the ordinary one if you have trouble riding it.
• Consider using a wheelchair or a walker if you want to participate in any event that you know will be too much for you.
• Acquire an automatic vacuum-cleaner to make vacuuming easier.
• Contact your municipal office Borgerservice (https://borgerservice.dk) to ask for help with bigger applications.

At your first consultation with a doctor at Tværfagligt Smertecenter we will discuss your medication to see if there needs to be any changes.

Make a list of your medicine and bring it with you to the first consultation. Remember to list all medication – even the ‘over the counter’ ones and supplements.

You should know:

• Using short term opioids can conflict with sustaining a driving certificate. This can also be the case concerning other kinds of medication, depending on dosage.
• Long term opioids provide a more stable 24hour pain relief.
• Headache can be a side-effect to many kinds of medicine.
• Using non-prescriptive painkillers such as ibuprofen on a regular basis can increase the risk of heart-disease. We recommend that you reduce or stop taking it altogether.
• Talk to your general practitioner (GP) about your medicine and see if anything needs to be changed before you start at Tværfagligt Smertecenter.

If you have any questions about your treatment, feel free to contact us.