Distraction Tips

Suffering through an acute pain attack is hard work for anyone, regardless of their level of experience with pain and expectation of pain. Many chronic pain sufferers feel acute pain every now and then - just like everyone else - and these acute attacks can be caused by something totally unrelated to their chronic pain (like a stomach bug or a broken bone) or they can be an additional symptom of an already-known underlying problem.

Regardless of the cause, acute pain happens, and it has to be gotten through. You may have meds that help - you may be given new meds that help. Or you may be waiting for the meds to kick in. Or, they may have kicked in, but you still feel pain and have to wait it out.

The crucial element of acute pain is waiting. Waiting it out - you just have to find a way to pass the time until the pain subsides, either of its own accord or because of medical intervention. You have to find a way to distract yourself, and this can be very difficult if it's severe pain, as your brain naturally wants to focus on the pain. Focussing on the pain, though, won't make the time pass any faster. You need to find ways to pass the time as quickly as possible.

Here are some tips to do just that in the face of severe pain:

1. Audiobooks. These can be very helpful, as you don't have to struggle to read or even open your eyes. You can drift along, listening to the story, without any external effort.
2. Breathing. This is a very 'back to basics' method to calm yourself down in the face of panic and rising pain levels.
3. Envision pain relief. You can do this many different ways, but try using your imagination to visualize the pain meds or your own immune system working on your behalf. I like to think of tiny little workmen running around inside my body, attacking pain intruders and defeating them. This may sound silly, but visualizations have actually been shown - scientifically - to work.
4. Listen to music.
5. Practice muscle relaxation techniques. You can find a variety of these online - either to read or as audio files to listen to as you practice the techniques. Muscle relaxation during acute pain can ensure you are not carrying additional tension elsewhere in your body, and can help lessen your pain and minimize the longer term effect of the attack. (Try this one here.)
6. Talk to loved ones. They want to help - let them distract you! You can even play a simple game (like cards) with them if you're able.
7. Remember something funny or physically pleasurable. Recall as vividly as you can a time you were happy, physically comfortable, or a favourite memory. This can be anywhere or anything, just focus as much as you can on remembering the details and how you felt in your body at the time.

Severe pain happens, but you don't have to suffer through it second by second, as the time slows to an inevitable crawl. You can speed time up by distracting yourself, and get through the pain faster and easier.