Keep Busy When In Pain!

Mitch86

Mitch86

Member
Location
Connecticut, USA
As we age and get over age 80, one most always keep busy every moment of every day. Otherwise we dwell on our pain, fear our upcoming death and generally feel miserable. At 87 I get around my age and pain by playing games like chess and Civilization VI as much as I can every day. Then the pain is sublimated and thoughts of my coming death get pushed into the background. I can live each day to the best of my ability. Finally, walking as much as possible gets our bodies moving and offsets our pain.
 

Mitch86 said:
As we age and get over age 80, one most always keep busy every moment of every day. Otherwise we dwell on our pain, fear our upcoming death and generally feel miserable. At 87 I get around my age and pain by playing games like chess and Civilization VI as much as I can every day. Then the pain is sublimated and thoughts of my coming death get pushed into the background. I can live each day to the best of my ability. Finally, walking as much as possible gets our bodies moving and offsets our pain.
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Exactly. Distraction helps immensely. Games that require mental skill work for me as well as a good book, well written with interesting plot and pain goes unnoticed.
 
At my age of 92 I keep busy with either playing Scrabble online or answering folk as to how life was way back in time.
Its been a very busy and interesting time since I learnt how to use a computer 22 years ago.
Yes I have my aches and pains and now being severely disabled from Osteoporosis because I am breaking bones SO easily I am having bone infusions. I also have late life Epilepsy that started when I was 80 but kept under control with meds plus having a pacemaker.
I find either on the net or getting e-mails with various funnies each day to have a belly laugh at helps the medicine go down and while I can still type with one finger I intend to carry on.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

This saying first appeared in 1883 in Ella Wilcox's poem “Solitude.” and it helps me get through each day.
 
Maywalk said:
At my age of 92 I keep busy with either playing Scrabble online or answering folk as to how life was way back in time.
Its been a very busy and interesting time since I learnt how to use a computer 22 years ago.
Yes I have my aches and pains and now being severely disabled from Osteoporosis because I am breaking bones SO easily I am having bone infusions. I also have late life Epilepsy that started when I was 80 but kept under control with meds plus having a pacemaker.
I find either on the net or getting e-mails with various funnies each day to have a belly laugh at helps the medicine go down and while I can still type with one finger I intend to carry on.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

This saying first appeared in 1883 in Ella Wilcox's poem “Solitude.” and it helps me get through each day.
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so sorry about the difficulties you suffer. Mom is 94. Wishing you good days through the difficulties.
 
I have been in multiple car accidents. In 2015, I was walking in a parking lot and got run over by an SUV (did not break before hitting me).

So, anyway, deal with a lot of chronic pain.

It's not going away, but I have made progress.

What I would say is don't surrender to the idea that you are in a realm of pain that can never be mitigated. You might be, but keep trying to find ways not only to cope with the pain that exists, but perhaps to find ways to reduce the pain level itself.

What has helped me:

1) Better mattress. That made a HUGE difference! I now use a "pillow top" mattress. You can also get a pillow top mattress cover, which, of course, is a lot cheaper than buying a new mattress.


My cousin basically ended his back problems by using a Tempur Pedic mattress. I use a Tempur Pedic pillow. That has helped tons. I have heard many good things about their products. Straight from the factory, they do seem to have a strong chemical smell. I guess it is a new plastic smell. So, I off-gassed their stuff in the garage, for a few weeks, during a hot summer, until that smell went away.

2) Better sleeping positions. There are Yoga sleeping positions (thinks like sleeping with a small pillow between your legs, to straighten out the spine. If you explore these, you might find some pain relief...and also, you might wind up sleeping better due to less pain.

3) Stretching. I got specific Yoga exercises to do for my back problems and other injuries. But whether it is Yoga or just general stretching, you might want to look into that.

4) I have tried chiropractic, acupuncture and some other natural methods. all have helped some. Acupuncture with electric stim is the only thing that ends my back pain. Chiropractic really does, just kind of "snap everything into place." Has helped in a variety of ways. The limitation comes with the body falling back "out of place." And better mattress, better sleeping positions, stretching...all help to keep the body in place much longer.

5) Some folks try an anti-inflammatory diet. And very specifically a diet lower in sugar. I have tried that. I haven't made the direct connection to higher sugar being worse. But, it does make some sense. I do know that I do get various general symptoms with more sugar in the diet...for example, my allergies seem to get worse.
 
I get sertraline and gabapentin from the VA for my pain and PTSD. I also like to use my red, white and blue before I go out to do active things, one Ibuprofen one Tylenol and one Aliev. Sometimes I slip in a melatonin tablet because I think it helps a little bit for pain, or at least the kind of pains that I have some arthritis and much nerve pain.
 
Integrative Medicine Approaches to Pain Management

(includes some use of natural therapies)

Dr. Andrew Weil, MD ---- Center for Integrative Medicine


https://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/resource/pain_management.html
Kaila said:
Those are some good reminders, @JonSR77
and thanks also for the encouragement to keep trying and trying, again.
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Not saying it is fun or easy...because it hasn't been. But less pain is better and, in my experience, worth the hard work to get there.

I was in bad back pain, 24 hours a day for 2 years straight. Took 4 - 8 hours daily, for a full year, before I figured out methods to bring it down to a manageable level.
 
It's good to hear that you've found ways to make the most of your circumstances, Mitch. There's a lot of wisdom in what you've said. (y)
Mitch86 said:
Otherwise we dwell on our pain, fear our upcoming death and generally feel miserable.
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Like most people, I have reasonable fear of "dying" but as a Christian I do not fear death. Knowing with certainty what awaits me when this life is done replaces any such fear with a sense of joyful anticipation.
 
Tommy said:
It's good to hear that you've found ways to make the most of your circumstances, Mitch. There's a lot of wisdom in what you've said. (y)

Like most people, I have reasonable fear of "dying" but as a Christian I do not fear death. Knowing with certainty what awaits me when this life is done replaces any such fear with a sense of joyful anticipation.
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I am religious as well. And I believe in an afterlife as well. And yes, I process death in the same way...that we are leaving Earth to go back to what is, in fact, our actual home, our spiritual home.

I hope that this does not come across as preaching. That is not my intention. My intention is to share hope.


And I will share this story.

I was at the chiropractor's office. This must have been about 5 years ago. There was man there, maybe 70 - 75 years old. Very tall, thin, but still had a powerful and athletic build. In my mind I was thinking he must have been some kind of "tough guy" --- like ex law enforcement or ex-millitary.

And we and a few other people are just sitting in the waiting room. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this man started talking to me.

So, he told me that he was a pilot during Vietnam. He got shot down. He was horribly wounded and close to death.

And he told me that he had a near death experience.

Mind you, this is coming from guy with the demeanor of a US Marine drill sergeant. I played sports. I had coaches like this guy. If fact, one of my high school sports coaches was an active member of the Army reserve. This Vietnam pilot was no nonsense. Absolutely not a New Age fadist kind of person.

It is hard to describe in words...that, well, he was absolutely NOT full of horse manure. The opposite.

And he also told me that when he was "there," he felt a kind of instruction to share his experience with others.

That happened. It really did. It was powerful and moving.
 
I have found that concentrating on my pain can be useful. It focuses my mind to a singular experience, all others fade away....just pain. I sit with it for awhile and it changes form. When my mind wanders I re focus on the pain. Doing this a few times a day has been beneficial in that it has widened my experience . Pain is not a monolith. :)

Then for distractions I like the Senior Forum :), which leads me to some very interesting things like new music, new ideas, and all kinds of stuff I never would have thought of. Talking/hanging with Misa and our animals on the farm. Taking walks...( I wear a covid mask because of the
pollen :) ) Eating, but that takes up such little time. Watching YouTube. I have feeds there of stuff I like and they throw in some pretty good suggested stuff too. I don't have a google account....try to keep a low profile. In fact I did have a google account for awhile but I did not like the algorithms the BIG MASS MEDIA GIANT/S threw my way, so I quit. Cooking and preparing food...cleaning...maintenance stuff.

Man has lived with pain for a whole lotta years without all the stuff we have today...i wonder how they did it.? :LOL:
 
Kaila said:
Very interesting ideas in your post, @Paco Dennis
I will read it more times, and ponder it further. Thank you for writing it, here.

Thank you for the sharing, as well as for yours, @JonSR77
And for all of you.
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I understand. I am great. I am perfect. Sometimes, I do like to share with the little people. Humble also... :) :) :)
 
With much phantom pain coming from my amputated thumb I find that other chronic pains which have been with me for years have taken a back seat so to speak.
So yes , in my mind I talk to my thumb when that pain hits hard and I tell it to relax, relax, relax and the pain subsides for a while.
I have done the same thing with back pain which I have a lot of . Had a spinal fusion when I was 30. Caused a lot of pain and discomfort over the years. Yes ..... in my case the mind can control to a certain extent.

p.s. I can even make my non existent thumb bend and wiggle a little.;)

Thumb.gif
No..haven't lost my marbles ... yet!!
 

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