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Pain-Relieving Techniques

Living with pain is difficult and can interfere with your day-to-day activities. The key to dealing with pain effectively is to correctly identify the source of your pain. Pain-management techniques can be used in addition to pain medication or on their own. Your health-care provider can recommend how to utilize pain-relieving techniques based on your individual health issues and medication concerns.

  1. Cold Laser Therapy

    • Cold laser therapy is used as a pain relief technique for conditions like tendinitis, fibromyalgia and arthritis. According to Spine-Health, in cold laser therapy, a handheld laser is directed at the source of pain for a duration of a few minutes depending on the required laser therapy dosage for each patient. The laser works to eliminate the pain by using light energy to return tissue that has been injured to a normalized state. While cold laser therapy is a non-invasive procedure, it takes up to 30 treatment sessions for a patient to get full pain relief.

    Acupuncture

    • Acupuncture involves inserting very fine needles into various pressure points in the body. It works to relieve pain by regulating how vital energy flows in the body. Acupuncture is relatively safe if performed by a well-trained acupuncturist. The risks involved with acupressure are injury to the organs and infections from improperly sterilized needles.

    Massage

    • Massage is a technique that uses manipulation of the patient's ligaments and muscles to relieve pressure. Massage can be used to provide pain relief associated with tension and stress like headaches and cramps. Different types of massage include deep tissue massage, in which forceful hand strokes are used to relax the deep muscle tissues. It also includes trigger point massage that involves massaging specific injured muscles. Massage is usually used in conjunction with other standard treatments.

    Hypnotherapy

    • Hypnotherapy or the use of hypnosis as a pain-relieving technique involves the alteration of the state of mind to bring self-awareness of the processes going on in the body. Hypnosis works by getting the patient to a heightened state of relaxation and the ability to comply with the hypnotherapist's instructions to eliminate the pain. The hypnotherapist does not control the patient but guides him in the thought process to get the intended relief. It may take up to 10 sessions lasting an hour to begin getting positive results. Hypnosis should only be performed in a safe environment by a licensed hypnotist.

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