With the internet becoming a place for people to share and discuss their health issues, more and more people are talking about their struggles with chronic pain. There are many conditions that can cause severe or prolonged pain anywhere in the body, and when you’re hurting every single day it can be exhausting and difficult to cope.

Modern medicine and treatments can of course help to alleviate some chronic pain, but sometimes it doesn’t go away entirely. But there are a few things you can try incorporating into your daily health plan that, in addition to medication and other treatments, can also help with chronic pain.

Supplement Your Medicine

While there aren’t any alternatives to medication that are equally or more efficient, there are things you can take alongside your prescriptions to add to their benefits. Always be careful what you put into your body, especially when you have a health condition. Ask your doctor about these methods to assure you’re not doing more damage than healing.

Of course, when you think of substances to help with pain management, you probably first think of marijuana. It’s absolutely true that cannabis can help with pain and it could be beneficial to add it to your pain management plan. You can decide whether you want to smoke it, take pills or gummies, or apply a CBD-infused salve to areas where you have pain. Look at the different varieties of cannabis like the kush mints strain to decide which you’d like to try.

Another possible supplement to consider for your pain is tea. Tea has been used for its medicinal benefits for thousands of years, and for good reason. Many herbal teas like peppermint or chamomile have relaxing properties that can help with any tension in your body and therefore help with pain as well.

Your diet can also be a factor in reducing your chronic pain. Changing what you eat can greatly help lessen your pain and make it a bit easier to manage. Eat plenty of whole grains, fruits, and veggies, and opt for healthy oil instead of things like butter. But also, you don’t want to constantly shut down and deny any cravings that come up. It’s perfectly fine to eat something unhealthy every now and then, as long as your diet is otherwise balanced and healthy.

Keep on Moving

Keeping your body active can help with chronic pain and make everyday activities a bit easier. Exercise is very important for everyone’s health, but with chronic pain, it can be hard to get yourself moving or get the motivation to be active. Just remember that if you push through a few short exercise sessions throughout the week you can see positive results in the long run.

You should try to do some stretches each day to keep your body from being too stiff or tense. One of the worst things you can do is sit for long periods of time with no breaks. It’s very important to stand every once in a while to avoid stiff joints and prevent increasing your pain. If your job requires you to sit for extended periods of time, try setting a timer for every thirty minutes or so to stand up and maybe walk around a bit since staying sedentary for so long can be damaging and only add to your pain.

While you need to exercise regularly, that doesn’t mean you need to push yourself through intense workouts every day. What’s important is that you keep your body moving. There are plenty of low-intensity exercises that will be easy on your body and can help with your chronic pain. Simply taking a short walk, trying some yoga poses, or doing aerobics in a pool can do wonders for your health and pain.

Putting Yourself First

When you’re in constant pain you have to take care of yourself first and foremost. After all, if you’re not feeling your best how can you do your job well or help out others? You should always make taking care of yourself your top priority. This is the only body and mind you get so you need to take care of them.

Give yourself permission to have bad days. No one likes feeling down or like they can’t accomplish what they want to, but the reality is, everyone has days where they need to focus solely on taking care of themselves. Whether it’s a bad day in terms of pain, mental health, both, or something else entirely, Allow yourself time to recover instead of trying to just push through. Never feel bad about needing to take time for yourself.

Don’t feel guilty about indulging every once in a while either. If you’re finding it particularly difficult to cope with your chronic pain, grab your favorite snacks or junk food and take a warm, relaxing bath. Not only will a bath help you relax and give you some peaceful alone time, but it can help relieve some of your pain too. Don’t worry about what you eat on days like this. While you should be eating healthy in general, indulging every so often will help you feel better and won’t make a big difference in the long run.

Chronic pain can be frustrating and disheartening to deal with at times, but there are some ways to help manage it alongside your prescribed medication and treatments. Hang in there, take care of yourself, and be proud of yourself. It takes a very strong person to live with that kind of pain every day.