There are several ways to relieve chronic pain

If we only count mainstream solutions that have been clinically evidence-based and verified, there are 4 types of effective chronic pain relief methods.； If supplementary alternatives recognized by different medical systems are included, the total number is between 6-7. Which one is suitable depends on the trigger of pain, location and personal tolerance. There is no absolute "optimal solution".

I met a young girl who works in new media a while ago. She has suffered from shoulder and neck pain for almost 4 years. She keeps ibuprofen in her drawer all the year round. It hurts so much that she can’t lift her arm, so she stuffs one pill in it. After taking it, she developed acid reflux in her stomach. The pain in her shoulder and neck increased from 2 or 3 points at the beginning to 6 points. It was difficult to even lift her arms while wearing underwear. At first, she always thought that she had to endure chronic pain or take medicine. She had no idea that there were so many ways to relieve pain that would not hurt her stomach.

Let’s start with the drug intervention that everyone is most familiar with. Among the first-line recommendations of Western medicine pain departments, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are what we often call ibuprofen and diclofenac sodium. They have really quick effects on chronic inflammatory pain of musculoskeletal muscles. ； If you have neuropathic pain, such as post-herpetic neuralgia and diabetic peripheral neuralgia, you have to use specialized anticonvulsant drugs such as pregabalin and gabapentin. For some chronic pain patients with long-term insomnia and depression, doctors will also prescribe small doses of antidepressants. However, there are different opinions here. Many doctors in the rehabilitation department actually do not recommend taking oral painkillers for a long time. After all, they are metabolized by the liver and kidneys and can also irritate the gastric mucosa. It is generally recommended not to take them for more than 7 days in a row. If the pain is still there, you need to change the plan.

But you know what? In fact, 80% of chronic musculoskeletal pain, such as low back pain caused by sitting for a long time and neck pain caused by people who bow their heads, can be relieved without taking medicine at all. Physical factor treatments such as medium-frequency electrotherapy, ultrasound, and shock waves are the most commonly used methods in the rehabilitation department. When I went out with a rehabilitation doctor before, I met many patients with chronic low back pain caused by lumbar disc herniation. I did shock wave + core stability training three times a week for two months. The pain was generally reduced from 7 points to less than 2 points, and it was not difficult to even bend down to hold the child. There are actually different ideas in the current sports rehabilitation circle. One group advocates practicing deep stabilizing muscles, such as static activation movements such as the dead bug pose and bird dog pose. The other group prefers to correct daily movement patterns, such as how to exert force when walking and how to squat when moving things. No one is right or wrong. I have seen people who have done the dead bug exercise, and I have also seen people who are not in pain just by changing the habit of sitting for a long time with their legs crossed. It just suits you. Oh, by the way, a caveat, don’t just go to a street massage shop and violently massage your neck and waist. Last month, I met a patient who had a cervical disc herniation and compressed the vertebral artery after massage, and was so dizzy that he couldn’t stand up. If you want to use relaxation techniques, you must find a qualified rehabilitation therapist.

If you have tried taking medicine and doing rehabilitation, but the pain is still so severe that it affects your life, you can also consider the minimally invasive interventional plan of the pain department. For example, common nerve blocks, which are often referred to as "blocking", many people are now biased against this, thinking that it only treats the symptoms, not the root cause, and may lead to hormone dependence. In fact, the current formula is generally a low-dose long-acting hormone + lidocaine + methylcobalamin that nourishes the nerves. As long as the injection is no more than three times a year, there will be no side effects. For many patients with trigeminal neuralgia and rotator cuff injury, one injection can relieve pain for more than half a year, and the quality of life is not improved at all. For more serious cases, minimally invasive surgeries such as radiofrequency ablation and spinal cord electrical stimulation can be performed. For example, in stubborn trigeminal neuralgia, radiofrequency can be used to slightly adjust the pain nerves, which can prevent pain for several years. Of course, this is controversial. Some people think that there may be sequelae of local numbness after surgery. It depends on whether you are willing to endure mild numbness or endure severe electric shock-like pain that attacks at every turn. There is no unified answer.

In addition to these mainstream Western medicine solutions, many complementary and alternative therapies are now proven to be effective. Take acupuncture, for example. In the past, many Western medicine doctors thought it was a placebo effect, but now the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed acupuncture as a first-line recommendation for chronic low back pain and neck pain. My mother suffered from knee osteoarthritis pain for 2 years. She took a lot of medicine but it didn't work. She took acupuncture for 3 months, and now she can dance square dance without any problem. There are also mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy, which are particularly effective for pains such as fibromyalgia and chronic tension headaches where no organic problems can be detected. I used to have an aunt with fibromyalgia who suffered from pain all over her body. She checked around and found no problems, and taking medicine didn't help. She followed the audio and did a 15-minute body scan every day. After 3 months, the pain was reduced by half, and now she can go downstairs to buy groceries by herself.

In fact, after all, there is really no standard answer to the relief of chronic pain, and there is no need to worry about which method is the most "formal". As long as it is approved by a professional doctor and will not hurt the body, you can try it. After all, the best method is the one that makes you feel comfortable if it hurts you. If you are also troubled by chronic pain, don't bear it. Go to the pain department or rehabilitation department of a regular hospital first. It is much more reliable than taking medicine and massaging on your own.