Each Monday, we’ll look at ways to cope well with pain and how to get yourself to use helpful techniques regularly.  It’s your at-home pain management class!
Are you sticking with your commitment to use pain management techniques regularly?  Well these cats are good role models for sticking with resolutions!

Thanks to one of my favorite sites, I Can […]

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Pain is stressful, and I’m always on the lookout for stress management techniques, tools and resources for you.  I came across this fun one at Casual Keystrokes.
 
Remember how satisfying bubble wrap is to pop!?!  To get your own virtual one […]

This week is Book Week (kind of a going-back-to-school theme?) here at How to Cope with Pain, with 3 books related to pain reviewed for you.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think when you read 1 or all!
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Learning about pain has to be dry, academic and… well, painful, right?  Well, not with […]

Usually airplane travel includes bad food, cramped quarters and delays.  I recently flew on American Airlines to Chicago – no delays - but an interesting quirk of not a speck of food either.  No peanuts, no cookie.  Wow… cost-cutting gone haywire.  And airport security was nice enough to confiscate my yogurt – I hadn’t realized that […]

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and working with patients around acceptance of pain.  Of course, we’re all at different stages along the path to acceptance.  Here’s someone who still has a way to go on the path of acceptance:

Acceptance frees up a whole lot of energy we can use to both help ourselves get […]

Here are some of the funniest movies of all time, as voted by The American Film Institute.  What’s your favorite???  Commit to watching one this week and see if some of your pain is relieved.  My favorites are **starred**.

Tootsie (1982)
Annie Hall (1977)
Duck Soup (1933)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
M*A*S*H (1970)
The Graduate (1967)
Airplane! (1980)
The Producers (1968)
A Night at the Opera […]

While we may not be so happy with our brains when they cause us pain, here are 2 fun tests to show your brain working  -  or not working in the 1st test and strutting its usual amazing stuff in the 2nd.  Here goes:

Test 1:
Reading through at your normal pace, count every “F” in the […]

It’s always nice to start Monday with some humor…

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We’ve talked about relaxation exercises here, but the amenities below take easing your stress to new levels:

At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, there’s a relaxation butler, who’ll provide you with the perfect pillow, herbal tea and calming music before bed.
You can call for the bath sommelier at the Fairmont Chicago, to draw your bath […]

Noc-turtle!
What’s a joke doing in a pain blog?  Well, laughing can help you feel better.  No, pain isn’t funny, but ‘funny’ can help your pain.
Laughing makes you feel good.  And there are other ways it’s good for you.  Laughing:

reduces pain by releasing endorphins, your natural pain killers

improves your immune system

perks you up by getting your blood […]