5 Simple Tools for Dealing with Chronic Pain

5 Simple Tools for Dealing with Chronic Pain

Last year I read Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s book It Doesn’t Have to Hurt: Your Smart Guide to a Pain-Free Life. While it had a lot of information you can also find in my book, Keep Moving: Take Steps to Relieve Pain & Improve Your Life, he highlighted several interesting studies that offer new ways to think about managing chronic pain.

Chronic pain can be draining, and when you're dealing with it, it can feel like it will never end. The good news is that research continues to uncover simple tools that may help reduce chronic pain. Even better, many of these strategies cost nothing and carry very little risk. If you’re living with chronic pain, these techniques may be worth trying.

Savoring Positive Moments May Help Reduce Pain

Enjoying something fully has the ability to pull us out of ourselves and relieve pain. You can savor something in the moment—delicious food, time with a loved one, or a beautiful view—or you can close your eyes and remember a meaningful moment.

Research shows that both types of savoring can help reduce the perception of pain. Taking time to focus on positive experiences may help shift your brain’s attention away from chronic pain.

Healthy Distraction Can Help Manage Chronic Pain

It may come as no surprise that we can distract ourselves from pain. People dealing with chronic pain sometimes almost feel guilty about this one. If the right distraction makes you feel better, others may question how real the pain is.

But pain can be all-consuming, and a healthy distraction can pull you out of your own mind and body for a moment. Watching a movie, talking with a friend, or engaging in a hobby can temporarily shift your focus away from chronic pain. And if the experience is enjoyable, it may become something you savor later.

Reframing How You Think About Pain

Changing how you think about pain can also be helpful in managing chronic pain. We often simply think pain is bad—it hurts. But pain is actually the body trying to protect us.

Sometimes the wires get crossed and the message isn’t helpful or welcomed. However, reminding yourself that pain has a beneficial purpose—or that there may be something you can learn from it—can make the experience feel a little easier to handle.

Green Light and Nature May Reduce Pain

Research is beginning to show that green lighting (such as LED green light strips) and green spaces may help reduce chronic pain, anxiety, and depression while improving sleep.

Early studies suggest green light may act on the brain’s pain centers. In Gupta’s book, Dr. Mohab Ibrahim, a physician-scientist studying green light therapy, says, “If you’re picking out new wallpaper or paint, leaning toward the color green may be the ‘pain-friendly’ choice.” That’s how much researchers are seeing green help reduce pain.

Of course, you don’t have to install new lighting to benefit. Spending time in nature can also surround you with calming shades of green.

Why Leaning Into Pain May Help

This one sounds surprising, but some research suggests that leaning into pain can actually help reduce it. Our instinct is often to push pain away. Unfortunately, that can sometimes have the same effect as someone telling us not to think about elephants—it becomes all we can focus on.

When Matt had sciatica years ago, he said he found this technique surprisingly helpful. There may be something empowering about acknowledging pain rather than constantly fighting it.

Finding the Right Tools for Your Pain

Ultimately, chronic pain is personal. Different tools work for different people and for different types of pain. But when you’re dealing with chronic pain, low-risk strategies like savoring positive moments, healthy distraction, reframing pain, exposure to green light or nature, and leaning into the sensation may all be worth trying.

The only one that might cost money is investing in green lights—but you can also simply step outside and spend time in nature. You’ve got nothing to lose.

If one of these tools has worked for you, we would love to hear about it.