New Years Resolutions for the Chronic Pain Patient

Resolutions for Chronic Pain

With a new year comes New Year’s Resolutions. Everyone has made them before. Vows to go to the gym, to lose those annoying twenty pounds that won’t go away, to give up smoking, and the list goes on. For many patients however, New Year’s resolutions for chronic pain don’t translate into real results.

For the chronic pain patient, the new year can mean a fresh opportunity to address pain that has plagued them for a long time. In today’s post we discuss truly effective techniques, ranging from technology to track your pain to practicing surprisingly effective relaxation techniques, that can help make your new year less painful.

Misconceptions about treating pain

Many people believe that treating pain means taking pain medications and hoping for the best. Indeed, this was often the extent of pain management in the past. But current research has shown the risks involved in treating certain conditions solely with opioids far outweigh the benefits. That’s why today's interventional pain specialists create real resolutions for chronic pain by moving from strictly medication-based treatments to an interventional approach.

Pain management has changed

Fortunately, modern pain management has adopted a multi-modal approach with long-term relief and rehabilitation as its core goals. Drs. Segura and Robertson specialize in the latest non-surgical and surgical interventional treatments.

New treatment options, that may not have been available when you sought treatment in the past, stop pain at the source, rather than masking the symptoms.

If you’ve never seen a pain specialist or if it’s been a long time since you have, times have changed and treatment has become more effective and multi-faceted. Take for example, Vertiflex - a decompression spinal implant system for the treatment of moderate lumbar spinal stenosis

Living with pain doesn’t have to be a way of life. Make this New Year’s your year to turn your chronic pain around. There are many small changes you can make that will yield big results. Start with some of these ideas:

Resolutions for chronic pain

  • Track Your Pain with Technology

    There are many pain-tracking apps for your phone that allow you to record daily, and even hourly, pain symptoms. Tracking symptoms, as well as environmental factors like weather, can help determine not only the effectiveness of a treatment, but also possible pain triggers. Check out a review of pain tracking apps for pain management patients. Best Pain Management Apps for Patients

  • Get Moving & Keep Moving!

    If you suffer from pain, it can be tempting to avoid anything that could make that pain worse...like exercise. And while it may seem counter-intuitive, moving more, not less can help. In fact, exercise releases endorphins, which are the body’s way to naturally block pain signals from reaching the brain. Whether you start walking or going to the gym, commit to moving more. A study from the National Institute of Pain Studies shows that movement therapies can reduce pain. Movement therapies for the management of chronic pain

  • Start a Stretching Program

    If you suffer from pain, it can be tempting to avoid avoid anything that could make that pain worse. And while it may seem counterintuitive, moving more, not less can help. In fact, exercise releases endorphins, which are the body’s way to naturally block pain signals from reaching the brain. Whether you start walking or going to the gym, commit to moving more. A study from the National Institute of Pain Studies shows that movement therapies can reduce pain. Movement therapies for the self-management of chronic pain symptoms

  • Stress Reduction & Relaxation

    Too often we get caught up in our busy day to take a moment and meditate. However, according to a study in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, patients who trained in a 10-week stress reduction and relaxation program found significant reductions in present-moment pain, negative body image, inhibition of activity by pain, symptoms, mood disturbance, and psychological symptomatology, including anxiety and depression. Mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain

Keep your resolutions for chronic pain

Instead of making and breaking the same old new year’s resolutions, we encourage anyone suffering from chronic pain to commit to small, achievable goals in order to make real progress on reducing your pain. At Segura Neuroscience and Pain Center, we can help you discover resolutions for chronic pain so that you can start the new year feeling ready to take on the world. If you suffer from chronic pain, and would like a consultation, contact us today.

About Dr. Segura

DR. RONALD C. SEGURA, MD

DR. RONALD C. SEGURA, MD

Dr. Segura is Double Board Certified in PM&R and Interventional Spine & Pain Medicine. He is a native of Louisiana, attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge where he graduated with Cum Laude Honors. Dr. Segura earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a minor in zoology, and then attended LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed a four-year residency training program in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.


This website is not intended provide specific medical advice, medical diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. Through this website and links to other websites, Segura Neuroscience & Pain Center provides general information for educational purposes only. The information provided in this site is not a substitute for medical or professional care. You should not use this information in place of the advice of your physician or other healthcare provider. Segura Neuroscience & Pain Center is not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis or any other information, services or product you obtain through this website.