whats the best way to deal with pain

Post Reply New Topic

i have a relatively low pain threshold so whenever i have an illness like the one i'm currently suffering from where constant coughing is causing muscle pain around my chest and other related muscle groups i tend to have a bad time

is there a good way either mental or physical to deal with that pain? trying to just bare it isn't helping me much

Watching women give birth puts it in perspective, then just get drunk and forget you saw it.

honestly that would help except i cant connect to them.... i cant understand the pain of other people even if its a similar pain to mine in terms of intensity... i just dont have the capacity for that

also alcohol seems to enhance pain for me rather then to dull it.....

Opioids.

arent they illegal....

I try to mentally make a visual representation of the pain I'm feeling and try and control the visual representation, so that it represents less pain. This, for me, works with anxiety levels as well, at least to a good extent. Took a long time to "get right" though and it still works only half the time but for me that's better than nothing...

Have you triedTylenol & multi-symptom cold medicine or cough syrup?

Not in prescribed form (ie. as Panadeine Forte for example, but that painkiller is a bit of overkill for this). If you can find an OTC tablet with codeine (eg. Nurofen Plus) that might be the next best thing to that.

Something to help with the coughing wouldn't hurt either.

It might sound funny but... I talk to the pain in my mind and it seem to help.

When I have my monthly woman pains ad painkillers don't work I sit down, focus on the pain and then tease it by sarcastically thinking: "That's all you got? Yeah, do it again, why not?(the pain comes in waves) It doesn't bother me. That's the hardest you have? Lame. Are you done yet?" and eventually I am able to ignore the pain because simply being aware of its patterns makes it predictable and controllable. The pain is not any less then it was (in fact it feels stronger due to focus) but I have a perspective and I know what to expect.

I also can kill a pain with pain. When I am in pain I choose an area near the pain source and pinch myself there. It does hurt but it numbs the pain next to it and I am in control of the stronger pain. I know I can simply let the skin go if I can't bear the pinch pain anymore so I keep it till I can.
If I keep it long enough the area that was painful is not hurting anymore. It is scientific true that due to pain your body creates endorphins which work as natural painkiller so when you make strong pain near an already painful area you can make your body send the natural painkiller there.

For me the worst thing is any pain is its unpredictability. And the best way to deal with it is understanding it's source and pattern.
I am OK with pain of predictable pattern and pain that I control or at least understand. For example cat scratches don't bother me because I know they hurt because skin is damaged and there is not much I can do about that other than avoiding touching the wound till it heals - but If I have to touch it I will stand it because I know its just a short pain that I control.

i can see how that could work but the pain im in right now comes in random spasms that can last for a short time or can go for a few minutes feeling like im being stabbed in the diaphragm

That still sounds similar to my woman monthly pains. They come in spasms("waves") with random intervals, intensity and length and there is a weaker pain undergoing all the time. But after "teasing the pain" I learned to recognize when the spasm starts as well as understand it is eventually going to get weaker and know I am able to stand even the strongest one because I consciously accepted it's full force before. I am also sometimes finding myself able to stop the incoming spasm by visualization or breath control. Its true especially when I am sleeping. Sometimes I wake up realizing I was half awake for last half of hour and for example "the weird liquid light" I was seeing that was getting stronger or weaker and that I was keeping under mental control in my dream was actually coming in pattern of the pain in my stomach.

Your pain also seem similar to my occasional hearth aches. They happen only once or twice a year but when they do I feel like I was stabbed for a few mins. I can stand it too and it doesn't bother me much because I fully accepted the pain when it happened before and I know what it is related to. I know all I have to do is sit down and the pain is going to go away once I rest a bit.

BTW. I have low pain threshold as well so I know what you feel. I just learned to accept the pain when it's there. Pain is just one of feelings and sometimes can't be avoided. The key is to stop pitying yourself: "Ah, its so painful! What I am going to do! I want it to stop! Help! I am so poor. I'm helpless. I can't do anything! The pain is making me crazy!" and be bold instead, thinking: "Yes, I feel pain. It will go away sooner or later. Lets see if I can do about it now. First - I need to discover whats actually going on. Second - find a way to control it if it is possible, if not - accept it and focus on something else". From my experience the more I think about being victim of pain the less bearable the pain is. Just thinking there is a possibility I can do something about the pain makes the pain easier to deal with even if the feeling itself gets stronger.

Last edited by Kiriae on 09 Dec 2014, 11:56 am, edited 2 times in total.

Well, I think healing / helping the cough would be first and foremost. If you're in the US, you could get "Chloraseptic Spray"----it numbs your throat so you don't feel it being scratchy. I've taken it, all of my adult life. I take some NyQuil, FIRST (which has a cough suppressant), then I'd spray my throat, then go to sleep (no matter what time of day it is). A few courses of that and my cough is gone. Be careful NOT to take Tylenol while you're taking Ny-Quil (Tylenol can totally kill ya!!); or, if you've already taken Tylenol, you have to wait SIX hours, before you can take Ny-Quil.

Ok. John c

the OP could ask his GP for some cyclobenzaprine/flexeril, which attacks pain from a route similar to valium [eases spasms] but without the high. your doc should have no problem prescribing it to you. it works for the type of pain you are describing. also consider taking a regular dose of ibuprophen OTC [max. dose up to 3200mg or 16-200mg tablets daily, maximum of 4 every 4 hours- ALWAYS WITH FOOD!! ! AVOID ALCOHOL!! ! do NOT combine with aspirin or other NSAID!! !], and if you combine that with a regular dose of acetaminophen [max dose up to 4000mg daily, spaced every 4-6 hours - AVOID ALCOHOL!! !] there is a synergy of pain relief that you won't get from any one of those alone. in addition, if the OP lives in a commonwealth country where OTC codeine mixed with acetaminophen is available OTC, he might try that in place of the acetaminophen alone at least for the first few days of the pain. the idea is to kill the pain early on before a neural reinforcement circuit can occur.

aside from pills, one can get some pain relief by:
*rubbing one's earlobes vigorously-
*taking a chopstick or little finger tip [trim nails first] and firmly pressing the fat end [or little finger] into the junction between your upper lip and the base of your nose, for a minute-
*rubbing the webbing between the thumb and forefinger vigorously.

I wish the OP the best of luck