Managing Chronic Pain with Natural Remedies and Healthy Habits – A Blog by Jackie Waters
It can be really scary to receive a diagnosis of a chronic condition that causes pain such as osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, or fibromyalgia. Will you be in pain forever? What will treatment look like? Can you still enjoy your life? It’s easy to get overwhelmed by questions and concerns related to your diagnosis.
Fortunately, you have plenty of options. From making healthy lifestyle changes to seeking natural treatments from a complementary therapist like Giuliana Wheater, there are several things you can do to ease your symptoms and live a fulfilling life. Here’s a guide full of valuable resources to help make your life easier!
Lifestyle Habits to Calm Inflammation
Healthy habits like eating clean, exercising, and sleeping well can lower inflammation in the body and help relieve symptoms of pain.
Adopt an anti-inflammatory diet focused on fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean protein.
From soups and stews to breakfast for dinner, you can make a wide variety of healthy dishes with basic pantry staples.
Staying active will keep your muscles strong and flexible to reduce pain and improve your overall health.
Gentle stretching can also relieve pain, especially when it comes to back pain.
Finally, try to cut out unhealthy habits that may be making your pain worse.
Relieving Stress at Home
Stress is known to intensify sensations of pain in the body. To find relief from your pain, try stress-relieving techniques to relax your muscles.
Clear negative energy from your home by cleaning, decluttering, and smudging.
Learn some calming, deep breathing exercises to relieve stress and anxiety in just a few minutes.
A soak in a hot bath can also help relax your muscles, reduce blood pressure, and relieve stress.
Prioritize Sleep
It can be tough to sleep with chronic pain, but sleeplessness can also worsen your symptoms. Find ways to improve your sleep quality naturally.
Make your bedroom more calming by decluttering, sticking to minimal décor, and leaving your work at the door.
Buying a new mattress could make a huge difference in your quality of sleep while also relieving morning stiffness.
Try Complementary Treatments
While traditional medicine may play an important role in your pain management routine, complementary medicine can also serve as a powerful coping tool.
Massage therapy is a very common and effective treatment for many different types of chronic pain.
While it may not work as a long-term solution, acupuncture can also help lessen your pain for a few weeks or months.
At home, try a few yoga poses that are known to alleviate pain in the back and joints.
If you have trouble ruminating on your pain, try mindfulness meditation to foster non-judgmental acceptance.
Don’t let chronic pain control your life. There are numerous things you can do to manage your symptoms and improve your quality of life. If you’re struggling with chronic pain, consider signing up for a yoga, massage, or mindfulness meditation session with Giuliana Wheater! To learn more or book a complementary therapy session, call 07791 977786 or email info@therapiesforspecialneeds.co.uk.
I am delighted to announce one of my articles, ‘Successful Indian Head Massage for People with Special Needs,’ has been published on the Autism Parenting Magazine’s website and can be found in the Jun 2017 issue . I am really proud to have been a part of this absolutely wonderful and very valuable publication that does such important work. To view my article, please visit the Autism Parenting Magazine’s website here.
I am so very thrilled to be featured in the August 2017 issue of Somerset Life , part of the MediaClash magazine group , following the interview for BBC Radio and the recent national press coverage about the journey with my own son as I continue to raise awareness about these beautiful and wonderful and ABLE children and young adults.
As a Somerset girl this feels very special! There was just one error (rectified in the following issue ) : the photograph is of myself with a student in one of my schools, and not my son Ollie as stated.However it is a lovely, lovely article and I’m a happy and proud little Somerset lady who is just honoured to have my work featured. Please click on the image below to see my feature on page 18 of the Somerset Life August edition. Alternatively, please click here to see the entire edition.
I’m very proud to have my work featured in the June 2017 issue of Autism Parenting magazine. You can read my article by clicking here – my article begins on page 40!
My son OLLIE has made the national and regional newspapers today!
A huge article in the Western Daily Press has appeared today – I didn’t even know until someone lovely posted on my timeline!
Back in April for Autism Awareness Month I set myself the seemingly impossible challenge that I would get Ollie’s voice, and the voices of so many different abled but amazing kids, heard on a national level. I even thought I’d pack sandwiches and sit outside editors offices if it came to it and accost them if they needed the loo.
I’m in tears as I write this because those voices, thanks to my son , have been heard today. No child should be boxed in by invisible cage bars just because of a label. We all deserve to become the best we can be, individuals with strengths and abilities, no matter how different those abilities are. With autism teaching global crisis levels, all these voices need to be heard and all these children to be part of a rich and inclusive future.
I am very excited to share with you that my article for the March 2017 issue of Health and Happiness magazine is now out !
I am particularly proud of this because it is a piece not just about my work but most importantly about my son , his journey and above all his strength as he fought through so many barriers to become the most beautiful and gifted young man that he is today. He is absolute proof that you must never let others define you or fill your life with limitations purely because you happen to have a label.
Please click here to read the article as published on their website.
I recently had the massive joy of being asked to speak at The Association of Indian Head Massage’s (AIHM) annual conference and CPD day on Saturday 17th September, organised by the wonderful Mary Atkinson. Mary spoke , along with the lovely Bridget , about her massage work within palliative care and hospices , a talk which made me well up several times at the hugeness of heart and courage involved for all concerned , Amy Taylor spoke eloquently and passionately about her massage work with pregnant ladies and I was invited to speak about my work with children and young adults with autism and other different abilities. I loved every minute and absolutely couldn’t stop talking … I wanted to share so much !! I wanted to give the incredible, courageous, gifted children I work with a voice and let people know just how able and talented they are , as well as raise awareness about using therapeutic touch to help them bloom.I was buzzing for days afterwards … and still am as I write this ! I absolutely love my job !!
The outcome for the day was to ensure that Indian Head Massage sessions met the individual needs of each and every client and above all listening to them and combining touch with that space to hear and feel how someone really is . After a working lunch where I actually had a queue of people wanting hugs as well as questions answered ( I loved it and actually wanted to take everyone home with me ! ) , Mary, Amy and I ran workshops where we shared some of our techniques with the attendees.
Mary has written her own blog on the events of the day; if you would like to find out more, please click here to read it.I also wrote my own posts on Twitter and on my Therapies for Special Needs and Indian Head Massage for Special Needs Facebook pages.
SEN Magazine review written by Mary Mountstephen, June 2016
Title: Indian Head Massage for Special Needs Author: Giuliana Fenwick Publisher: Singing Dragon Date: 2016 ISBN: 978-1-84819-275-1
The author developed this book while working with her son with Asperger’s Syndrome as well as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She has created a manual that introduces Indian Head Massage techniques to help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, calm sensory overloads, improve sleep patterns and many other challenges.
The book is a very interesting combination of the author’s own story and a detailed approach to this type of intervention. The author combines a passion for her personal journey with a desire to share knowledge and experience to produce a practical guide and reference for the reader.
The book is well structured; covering physical systems, before moving on to complementary approaches and massage information and supportive case studies. The 4 sections are well structured and provide a clear rationale for this type of intervention. Areas covered include:
Anatomy, physiology and some neuropsychology
Hormone producers
The nervous system
The lymphatic system
The massage treatment
Case studies
There are many colour illustrations and detailed intervention protocols and this book would be of interest to parents, therapists and multi-disciplinary settings.
There will be many who are skeptical of this type of intervention; however the book deserves to be read with an open mind. The technique described and the author’s teaching have both been approved by the Complementary Medical Association.
Due to an increase in my articles and blogs elsewhere, I am not publishing as regularly to this site. For regular updates and news please see me on I Care 4 Autism and DifferentBrains.com
I also write weekly articles every Monday for Anna Kennedy Online which can be found under Take Five for Mental Health or Latest News on the charity website.
Please check regularly in In The Press, Conferences and Talks in the menu for more articles ,interviews and events along with my YouTube channel which I add to weekly and my public Facebook group where I write a blog or share a free therapy every day.
I will be attending the Therapies in Education International conference as a guest speaker. I will also be running workshops and demonstrations throughout the day.
The event will take place at Ysgol Pen Coch on the 21st October, beginning at 9:30am and finshing at 4pm BST. For more details, please click on the link above.
