According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some 50 million US citizens had chronic pain in 2016. If you’re one of them, you understand how chronic pain can change your life, limiting your activities, affecting your moods, impacting your relationships, and lowering your quality of life.
Pharmaceutical approaches to managing pain can have undesirable side effects, and with the current opioid epidemic, you may not want to take risks with relying on prescription pain relievers. Plus, drugs are likely only to address the pain but not the underlying condition that is causing your pain.
In most cases, pain is caused by something. You may have chronic pain as a result of some other condition. For example, peripheral neuropathy, a chronic, painful condition, may be the result of diabetes. There are a great many chronic health conditions that cause pain.
One of the differences between conventional medicine and functional medicine is the approach to treatment. Often, a conventional approach addresses the symptoms, such as pain, rather than the underlying disease that is causing the pain.
Treatment through functional medicine not only addresses the underlying disease, but also the combination of bodily systems, environmental factors, lifestyle, and other elements of your life that may contribute to your chronic pain.
You are more than your pain, and you’re more than any underlying disease that causes your pain. At Family Acupuncture and Wellness, your health is addressed as a balance among the many complex parts of your life.
Just as your body is made up of many complex, connected systems, your health is the result of similarly complex and connected systems. For example, psychological factors may impact your pain levels, and your individual genetic makeup may make you more or less vulnerable to particular conditions.
Functional medicine addresses all of those different elements that impact your health and your pain through a therapeutic partnership between you and our staff members.
You’re a unique individual, and your treatment plan at Family Acupuncture and Wellness is specifically created for you. However, there are several areas that may be addressed in an effort to relieve your chronic pain.
The old saying “you are what you eat” has become a cliche for good reason. Your diet affects your body and your health in many interconnected ways. It may also be contributing to your chronic pain.
Your body was made to move, but when you have chronic pain, movement can seem like an unreachable goal. However, our staff will help you identify ways that you can exercise safely and help you gain strength.
Your ability to rest affects nearly every part of your life. If your pain is preventing you from sleeping well, you may be caught in a vicious cycle: less good sleep causes more pain, and more pain reduces your ability to sleep. Learning about sleep hygiene and techniques that may help you sleep is likely to be part of your treatment plan if you’re experiencing difficulty sleeping.
If you’re ready to learn whether functional medicine might be the best way to treat your chronic pain, book an appointment online or by phone at Family Acupuncture and Wellness. You deserve to leave a full, active life, unlimited by pain.
