Treating the Mind and Body: Navigating Arthritis Pain Symptoms
Arthritis sufferers incur a host of symptoms, but the biggest motivator for many patients to seek treatment is one: pain. Most arthritis patients suffer from chronic pain, meaning that it lasts over a substantial duration of time –– three months or more.
Different from acute pain, which may be higher intensity and shorter duration, chronic pain can induce maladaptive responses resulting in a Chronic Pain Syndrome (CPS). People struggling with CPS exhibit hopelessness and despair, fearing that their pain may never go away, and report worse outcomes even after receiving treatment.
Social determinants of health such as gender, ethnicity, race, culture, and socioeconomic background also place certain populations at greater risk for CPS.
Pain is a unique and challenging symptom to address given the variation in how it is experienced. Given the complex nature of interactions causing pain and the mind’s perception, treatment options must target not only physical symptoms and effects but psychological and behavioral aspects specific to particular patients.
It is important for those with arthritis to understand the relationship between these factors, and equip themselves with multimodal coping mechanisms. Borrowing elements from both conventional and alternative forms of medicine, integrative treatment education incorporates complementary and alternative strategies to pain management.
The field of integrative medicine continues to grow with further research and study, but a few of the most common and beneficial integrative activities for pain management for osteoarthritis are:
Acupuncture
Guided Imagery
Massage
Mindfulness
Relaxation
Tai Chi
Yoga
Learning more about how integrative treatment options function can provide helpful complements and alternatives to traditional methods. At this stage, it is important to gain a better understanding of the two-way street of arthritis. In other words, how your body can affect your mind, and vice versa, and what you can do to strengthen this relationship.
By better understanding our mind and body’s response to pain, we can begin to uncover new ways of approaching it to ultimately find more relief.